‘Anti-ISIS’ veteran sets fire to outside Manhattan federal building, officials say

A former US Army soldier has been arrested for setting a fire in front of a federal building in New York City, the FBI announced.

Andrew Arabaka, 43, allegedly fired a pellet gun and set off fireworks early Monday morning at 26 Federal Plaza, where the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ISA) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services offices are located.

Federal agents seized the suspected gunman and other weapons.

Three people suffered minor injuries in the incident, including an immigrant who was on a status hearing, the FBI said. The lower Manhattan station has become a hotbed for protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

In what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called an “anti-ISIS riot,” the suspect set off a firework before throwing a propellant on the building’s entrance steps, causing a fire. The BBC has contacted the DHS for comment.

The fire department extinguished the fire.

Arabaka “made several anti-government and anti-ICA ​​statements during the incident,” the FBI said.

FBI New York Assistant Director James Barnacle told a news conference that Arabaka was armed with two axes, a machete, three knives and fireworks.

Barnacle said he fired five to seven rounds from an airsoft gun in the direction of the building.

Barnacle said two of the injured were government employees.

DHS said a man seen in the area was arrested for grazing, and the security officer who arrested Arabaka suffered minor injuries.

“He’s an anti-American, anti-government extremist,” Barnacle added.

Arabaka, of Poughkeepsie, New York, served in the regular Army from 2001-04 and in the Army National Guard-New York from 2004-05, according to the BBC’s US affiliate CBS.

He had no deployments and left the Army as a specialist.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the incident “deeply disturbing” in a post on X.

“Our administration will continue to make sure every New Yorker is safe in their city — and we will hold accountable anyone who threatens that,” he said.