From the HERE City National Desk
ATLANTA — Federal agents have arrested a 31-year-old Douglasville man accused of hurling a Molotov cocktail at the downtown Atlanta offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday night, and prosecutors have charged him with two federal counts: attempting to set fire to a federal building, and damaging government property.
Prosecutors say camera footage from Tuesday evening, a little before 8:15, shows the suspect on foot outside the 180 Ted Turner Drive facility. Minutes later, prosecutors say, he lit an object and threw it at the facility. It struck the outer fence and fire spread from there. Left behind at the spot, agents say, were a lighter, a can of lighter fluid, pieces of a glass bottle and cloth that had burned.
Atlanta police officers saw the attack and chased the man on foot but lost him. Federal and local investigators were gathering evidence within an hour, and the FBI later took the man into custody at a Cobb County home where, investigators said, he surrendered without a struggle.
U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg called the attack an act of terrorism and political violence at a news conference outside the building and said his office will treat it with great severity. He noted the same facility was targeted during the summer of 2020. The building holds the Atlanta Immigration Court along with immigration enforcement offices.
If convicted, the man faces at least five and as many as 20 years in federal prison on the attempted arson count, and up to 10 more years on the property charge. The charges are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Investigators said the inquiry is continuing.
Section: More Washington DC crime news
Filed under: Washington DC Crime News
