Update, 10:18 a.m. EST: ABC News is reporting that the suspect who allegedly detonated the incendiary device has a documented history of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity.
BREAKING: A man with a history of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity set off an "incendiary device" outside a federal building in Manhattan on Monday morning, authorities said.
— ABC News (@ABC) July 20, 2026
ABC News' Aaron Katersky has the story.
Read more: https://t.co/UPrwWUgkcU pic.twitter.com/NkqGAk6oa2
Original article
An unidentified individual set off an incendiary device outside a federal building in New York City on Monday.
Videographer Oliya Scootercaster shared video of the aftermath of the Manhattan explosion, including federal officers rushing to set up a more secure perimeter to keep people out. It appeared that FBI agents and members of DHS Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) were responding to the incident. Two of the officers were rushing a handcuffed individual into the building, so it appeared they had already apprehended a suspect. The individual was a male who appeared to be white, though his ethnicity could not be determined from the video.
NOW: Moment of EXPLOSION that went off outside of the 26 Federal Plaza in NYC around 8:30am this morning, with Immigration agents and FBI Rushing out guns drawn and FPS apprehending the suspect. Sidewalk has been shut down and building evacuated.
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) July 20, 2026
NYPD on scene confirmed it was… pic.twitter.com/HcGg0Unj2a
ABC7 reported, citing information from federal authorities, that the device was composed of a flammable liquid and fireworks. One individual received treatment for a minor injury during the arrest of the suspect, but fortunately no one suffered a serious injury.
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The New York Police Department spoke with Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin and stated that authorities recovered a firearm in connection with the incident, but it was not clear if the firearm was on the suspect at the time of the arrest.
Meanwhile, the FBI released a very brief statement about the incident: “This morning an individual deployed an incendiary device outside of 26 Federal Plaza. The individual has been taken into custody and the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the incident.”
Since we do not know the identity of the attacker or his motivations, it is impossible to say exactly why this attack might have occurred. Apparently, employees of multiple federal agencies work in the building, including reportedly the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security. There have been numerous attacks on federal officers from anti-ICE whackos recently, however, and DHS officers were certainly responding to the incident.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani certainly encourages crime with his sanctuary policies for illegal aliens, his enthusiastic support for Islamic terrorists, and more. It is hardly surprising that his city would have a problem with terrorism against federal authorities.
Coincidentally, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week spoke out at a summit designed to counter far-left terrorism. “Historically, most politically motivated terrorism in the West has been carried out by violent far-left groups and individuals,” Rubio pointed out. “Far-left anti-government terrorism now accounts for more attacks and plots in the United States than any other ideological category. Far-left actors were responsible for 63% of all recorded anti-government attacks or plots as well as three out of the four anti-government fatalities in the United States in 2025.” It seems he might have another incident to add to his list.
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