New York —
The Army veteran accused of attacking a federal building in lower Manhattan using a combination of fireworks, accelerant and a pellet gun was charged with arson Tuesday.
Andrew Arrabaca, who did not enter a plea, was remanded back into custody after appearing before a federal judge.
“This was not a spontaneous or impulsive crime. This was a plan he contemplated over many months and took explicit steps,” Assistant US Attorney Samantha Fry said.
Just before 9 a.m. Monday, people were slowly trickling into the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building when Arrabaca, 43, came to the building “armed with bad intentions,” officials said.
Prosecutors said he spent months planning the attack, purchasing fireworks in Pennsylvania and the pellet guns he used in upstate New York, back in January. They also said he scouted out different locations but settled on 26 Federal Plaza.
“He had targeted this specific entrance because he previously observed it was a busy entrance,” Fry said. She added his behavior was “calculated, targeted and unacceptably dangerous.”
One civilian and two federal employees were injured in the attack, officials said.
His attorney, Jennifer Brown from the Federal Defenders of New York, argued Arrabaca should be taken to a mental health facility for evaluation rather than the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
In front of 26 Federal Plaza, Arrabaca emptied a bucket of gasoline onto the ground outside of an employee entrance and ignited it with a lighter and a “large firework in a canister,” officials said.
A sign saying “ICE off our streets” was affixed to a cart carrying his weapons, they added. Arrabaca had six incendiary devices and other destructive items, officials said.
The nation’s tallest federal building houses dozens of government agencies, including the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and thousands of federal employees. There is also an immigration court and a holding facility that jailed migrants have accused of being “dirty, smelly and overcrowded.”
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