A Florida woman was arrested for allegedly throwing a lit Molotov cocktail inside the lobby of a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) building, marking the latest attack against an immigration facility.
An unidentified woman walked into an Oakland Park, Florida, USCIS office Friday afternoon and threw a bottle filled with gasoline and a lit fuse. Fortunately for the people inside, the fuse disconnected from the bottle and was unable to ignite, according to a report of the incident reviewed by The Associated Press.
No one inside the USCIS lobby was injured, but one person did report feeling sick from the smell of gasoline.
Security officers subdued and handcuffed the suspect until Federal Protective Service officers were able to arrest her. It is still not known what the woman’s motives were for the attack, or what criminal charges she will face. However, law enforcement believes the woman wanted to cause harm.
USCIS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation, but acting director Ken Cuccinelli issued a public statement late Friday night.
Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli speaks about immigration policy at the White House during a briefing Aug. 12, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“Today’s attempted attack on one of our USCIS facilities using a Molotov cocktail is another example of the use of violence in place of debate by those who oppose the proper application of our immigration laws,” Cuccinelli tweeted. “This is the 2d attack on a DHS facility in 2 months using a Molotov cocktail. Violence has no place in our society. Thankfully, no one was hurt today. We’re grateful to our security guards & the law enforcement officers of FPS who apprehended and arrested the assailant.”
The Florida attack comes after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — another agency within the Department of Homeland Security — has been subjected to violence in recent time.
Willem Van Spronsen, a left-wing attacker, in July allegedly attempted to firebomb an ICE detention center in Tacoma, Washington. Armed with a rifle and flares, the attacker, who said he was associated with Antifa, was able to ignite a massive fire before dying in a shootout with law enforcement. In a manifesto written by him, Spronsen referred to immigrant detention centers as “concentration camps,” a comparison popularized on the left by New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (RELATED: Fewer Illegal Migrants Will Enter US Under New Trump Rule, DHS Says)
An ICE office in San Antonio was shot at overnight in August. Several windows were shattered, but no one was injured in the attack. Several rounds were fired, not only at an ICE office, but also at a private company nearby that does contracting work for ICE, prompting FBI officials to say that the incident was “no question” a targeted attack against the agency.
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