Man with anti-ICE history sets off device outside Manhattan federal building

A man with a history of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity set off an incendiary device outside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan on Monday morning, sending the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force into the investigation. The suspect was taken into custody and no injuries were reported, officials said.

The building at 26 Federal Plaza houses FBI headquarters and an ICE office, making it one of the city’s most sensitive federal sites for both law enforcement and immigration operations. Authorities have not described the device in detail beyond calling it incendiary, but the incident immediately placed security at the federal complex under scrutiny because it occurred at a location already tied to immigration enforcement and repeated public demonstrations.

The episode comes after months of confrontation outside the same plaza over ICE detentions and arrests connected to immigration court proceedings. More than 20 protesters were taken into custody during an anti-ICE protest at Federal Plaza in June 2025, and other clashes and arrests have taken place there as activists gathered over immigration enforcement actions.

Those tensions have not been limited to street protests. Reporting has also documented ICE agents arresting people in the hallways outside federal immigration courtrooms inside the complex, deepening concern about how the building is used and secured as both a courthouse and a detention-related enforcement site.

For federal authorities, the immediate question is whether the suspect’s anti-ICE history points to a politically motivated attack on a symbol of immigration enforcement or a broader threat pattern around federal sites in New York City. The FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is handling the case, underscoring the seriousness with which investigators are treating the device and the setting where it was deployed.