NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) – Authorities said a man protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement was taken into custody on Monday after he ignited fireworks and a fire on the steps of the building that houses the agency’s office in lower Manhattan.
The Department of Homeland Security said on X that the fireworks grazed a bystander, and the man “poured what is believed to be gasoline on the stairs of the entrance of the building and set it on fire.”
It said a Federal Protective Service officer who detained the man, described by DHS as “an anti-ICE rioter,” sustained minor injuries. The man was not identified.
The building at 26 Federal Plaza also houses FBI offices.
Local television ABC7 video showed a man in a helmet pouring liquid from a red bucket on the steps and setting it ablaze. As the flames rose, he attempted to flee but was intercepted by three uniformed men who led him away as smoke billowed.
DHS said officers recovered the man’s bag, which contained two pellet guns and “a manifesto.” A Reuters photographer saw a sign saying “ICE off our streets” in a cart brought by the suspect.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force was investigating the incident.
“What occurred outside 26 Federal Plaza this morning was deeply disturbing. I’m relieved no one was seriously injured and that a suspect is in custody,” New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters on Monday.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington, David Dee Delgado and Maria Tsvetkova in New York; editing by Michelle Nichols and Cynthia Osterman)
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