Former Army veteran seen on video setting fire outside federal immigration court in NYC, FBI says

Cellphone footage shows a man setting a large fire outside an immigration court in New York City.

A suspect was taken into custody in New York City on Monday after authorities say he used fireworks and an accelerant to start a fire outside a federal building that houses an immigration court.

FBI investigators say 43-year-old Andrew Arrabaca, a former soldier in the U.S. Army, set the fire shortly before 8:30 Monday morning outside of the building at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan. Video showed a man dumping what appeared to be a can of gasoline on a small staircase leading to the the building's entrance and then ignited it with a firework, setting off a huge fireball as he fled the scene.

The suspect didn't get very far as cellphone footage shot by a witness several floors above ground level in an adjacent building showed police quickly chase him down and subdue him not far from where the fire erupted. Watch the footage below.

Moments later, footage shot from ground level showed officers dragging Arrabaca away in handcuffs, with clouds of smoke from the extinguished blaze wafting into the air behind them.

"Mr. Arrabaca came armed, with bad intentions," FBI assistant director in charge James Barnacle said at a press conference, according to WABC. Authorities say Arrabaca was also armed with a pellet gun, knives, a hammer, and a machete. He also fired several shots using a pellet gun in the direction of the building's entrance. The Associated Press reported law enforcement officials discovered that he was also carrying anti-ICE and customs enforcement materials. 

“He is an anti-American, anti-government extremist,” Barnacle said.

Immigration Czar Tom Homan spoke briefly with reporters and condemned the attack, as well as other attacks on ICE agents around the country.

"It's not just an attack on the ICE agents," Homan said. "It's an attack on their spouses and children. No one knows that better than me. ICE agents are moms and dads, too."

The attack comes just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a gathering of leaders from around the world to address the growing problem of political violence from far-left extremists. "More than 80% of radical violence is now driven by far-left and anarchist actors," Rubio said last Thursday. "It is time for the people of the civilized world to defend ourselves."

Watch Homan's remarks below.