ATLANTA, GA - Federal authorities have arrested a man in connection with the alleged attempted firebombing of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Atlanta.
The alleged suspect, Inique Shaquil Hinton, of Douglasville, Georgia, has been charged federally with arson and damaging federal property, according to a press release from ICE. The investigation is active and remains ongoing.
"An operation of this speed and magnitude requires extraordinary collaboration,” said Ellen Johnson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI in Georgia and Alabama. “I want to express my deepest thanks to our law enforcement partners for their exceptional work on this case, including the tireless dedication of our Joint Terrorism Task Force partners, the FBI, DHS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia."
According to prosecutors, security cameras captured Hinton walking near the ICE building at 180 Ted Turner Drive just before 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20, the New York Post reported.
Minutes later, he allegedly ignited an object and threw it toward the facility, striking the exterior fence and causing flames to spread. Investigators reportedly recovered burned cloth, lighter fluid, a glass bottle and a lighter at the scene. Hinton was arrested Thursday, October 22 at a residence in Cobb County.
"An attack on federal property is an attack against our democracy. It is an act of terrorism. It is an act of political violence, and it cannot stand,” US Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said during a news conference. "This was obviously an attack directed at the ICE facility,” Hertzberg said, adding that prosecutors would respond with “extreme severity” because “we need to send the message that this is not OK."
"We can talk about immigration, we can have civil discourse but we cannot allow criminal acts, terroristic acts, like the one that was committed three days ago in our city,” he continued. Hertzberg said the Atlanta ICE building had previously been targeted approximately six years earlier during the summer of 2020.
"I want to make very clear we are not going back to that,” he said. “We will not tolerate attacks on government property and attacks against federal law enforcement." Hinton faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted of attempted arson, while the government-property charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years.
Comments