A Manhattan federal building fire on Monday morning has put lower Manhattan back in the national spotlight, after federal agents arrested a former US Army soldier accused of setting a blaze and firing pellets at one of New York City’s busiest government complexes.

The FBI says the man behind the attack arrived heavily armed and made a string of hostile statements about the government and immigration enforcement before he was tackled and taken into custody.

What Happened at 26 Federal Plaza

The incident unfolded outside 26 Federal Plaza, a sprawling office tower in lower Manhattan that houses several federal agencies under one roof. The FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services all maintain offices there, which makes the building a daily destination for thousands of workers and visitors alike.

According to investigators, 43-year-old Andrew Arrabaca of Poughkeepsie began by launching fireworks toward the building. He then allegedly poured a flammable liquid across the steps at one of the entrances and ignited it, sending flames up the stairway.

Firefighters arrived quickly and brought the fire under control before it could spread further into the structure.

Weapons Recovered at the Scene

James Barnacle, an assistant director at the FBI’s New York field office, laid out the details during a press briefing. He said the suspect was carrying an unusually large collection of weapons for a single individual: two axes, a machete, three knives, and a supply of fireworks.

Barnacle also said Arrabaca discharged roughly five to seven pellets from an airsoft gun aimed in the direction of the building before he was subdued.

Federal agents moved in and physically restrained him on the scene. A security officer involved in the takedown was among those hurt.

Three People Injured

Officials confirmed that three people suffered minor injuries during the confrontation. Two of them were government employees. The third was an immigrant who had come to the building that morning for a status hearing, which underscores how ordinary the day had started for people caught in the middle of it.

The Department of Homeland Security added that a bystander was grazed during the episode and that the officer who tackled the suspect also sustained minor injuries. None of the injuries were described as life-threatening.

A Building at the Center of Protests

The location is significant. Over the past several months, 26 Federal Plaza has become a gathering point for demonstrators opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. Crowds have assembled there repeatedly, drawn by the presence of ICE offices and the immigration hearings held inside.

That backdrop shaped the official response almost immediately. DHS labeled the suspect an “anti-ICE rioter,” while the FBI said he made repeated anti-government and anti-immigration-enforcement remarks as the incident played out.

Barnacle went further in his assessment, describing the suspect as an anti-American, anti-government extremist.

The BBC has reached out to DHS seeking further comment on its characterization of the incident.

Who Is Andrew Arrabaca?

Records reviewed by CBS, the BBC’s US partner network, show that Arrabaca served in the regular Army between 2001 and 2004. He followed that with a stint in the New York Army National Guard from 2004 to 2005.

He was never deployed overseas during his service. He exited the military holding the rank of specialist.

Beyond his service record and his hometown of Poughkeepsie, little has been released publicly about his background or what may have prompted Monday’s actions. Investigators have not yet detailed a formal motive beyond the statements he allegedly made at the scene.

City Leaders React

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani weighed in on social media platform X, calling the episode deeply disturbing.

He pledged that his administration would keep working to ensure every New Yorker feels safe in the city, and said anyone who threatens that sense of safety will be held accountable.

The measured response reflects the difficult position city officials occupy. New York has positioned itself as a place that welcomes immigrants, yet the mayor also has to answer for public safety when violence erupts at a federal site within city limits.

Why This Case Matters

Attacks on federal facilities are treated with particular seriousness by prosecutors, and the combination of fire, weapons, and stated political grievances is likely to shape the charges that follow.

There are a few reasons this case is drawing attention well beyond New York:

• The target was a federal building housing multiple immigration agencies, not a random location
• The suspect is a military veteran, which raises familiar questions about how some former service members drift toward political extremism
• An immigrant attending a routine hearing was among those injured, an outcome starkly at odds with any anti-ICE motivation
• The incident lands during an already tense national argument over immigration enforcement

That final point is worth sitting with. Whatever the suspect intended, the person hurt while simply waiting for a status hearing was among the very people that anti-ICE protests claim to defend.

What Comes Next

Federal authorities are continuing their investigation. Charging decisions will likely hinge on the arson allegation, the weapons recovered, and whether prosecutors pursue enhancements tied to the targeting of a federal facility.

For now, 26 Federal Plaza remains what it has been for months: a building where immigration policy stops being an abstraction and becomes a line of people on a sidewalk, some there for hearings, some there to protest, and now, at least once, someone there to do harm.