NEW YORK — An Army veteran with ties to the Hudson Valley is in federal custody after allegedly setting off fireworks, lighting a fire and shooting a pellet gun outside a Manhattan federal office building on Monday morning.
Andrew Arrabaca, 43, is accused of carrying out an “anti-American” attack on 26 Federal Plaza, though authorities stopped short of defining the incident as terrorism. Arrabaca graduated from SUNY New Paltz in 2009 and has a Poughkeepsie address, according to public records.
In addition to the immigration court, the plaza houses the New York office of the FBI. Arrabaca reportedly had a sign that read, “ICE Off Our Streets.”
“He is an anti-American, anti-government extremist,” James Barnacle, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said at a news conference. “We know that from what he said. We know that from what he said post-arrest. And we know that from his actions that he tried to take today.”
According to Barnacle, Arrabaca poured gasoline on the ground outside an employee entrance and ignited it with a lighter and a large firework, which also caught fire. He then pulled out an airsoft rifle and fired five to seven pellets at the building before two Federal Protective Service officers and a security contractor took him into custody.
In addition to the pellet gun, Arrabaca allegedly had two axes, three fixed-blade knives, a hammer and a machete. Three people were injured during the ordeal, including two government employees and a person who had an immigration court hearing.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, citing security video, offered a slightly different account of events. She said Arrabaca first lit a bundle of fireworks and then, as they began to smoke, pulled the pellet gun from his coat and fired at the building. Then, she said, he grabbed an orange bucket from his cart, dumped a flammable liquid near some bushes lining the building’s perimeter and started a fire.
Arrabaca previously repaired Patriot missile systems while in the Army from 2001 to 2005.
“What occurred outside 26 Federal Plaza this morning was deeply disturbing,” New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on social media. “I’m relieved no one was seriously injured and that a suspect is in custody.”
No charges had been announced against Arrabaca as of Monday evening. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.