Federal authorities have arrested Inique Hinton and charged him with attempted destruction of government property, saying he is the man who threw a firebomb at an ICE office in Atlanta on Tuesday.
The FBI said Mr. Hinton was captured on security camera lighting an object on fire and throwing it at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
The firebomb struck the top of a security fence and left the top of the fence in flames, but no damage was done to the main building itself.
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Investigators tracked Mr. Hinton down by reviewing security footage from a nearby convenience store, where someone with the same clothing made a purchase using a cellphone an hour before the ICE attack. The Visa card tied to the phone’s contactless payment function led authorities to him.
They also used license plate reader cameras to connect Mr. Hinton’s Kia Optima to being near the ICE building an hour before the attack.
“Attacking a federal building with an incendiary device like a Molotov cocktail is a despicable, terroristic crime that warrants an immediate and severe response,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg in announcing the charges Friday.
An Atlanta police officer had spotted Mr. Hinton at the scene on Tuesday and chased him, but he eluded the officer.
The affidavit justifying the arrest did not hint at a motive for the attack.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin blamed overheated rhetoric from politicians aimed at ICE for fomenting violence toward the agency.
“This latest attack is part of a dangerous and unacceptable escalation of violence against the men and women of ICE who are simply enforcing the laws of the United States,” he said.
Several ICE facilities in Texas have been attacked, including one in Dallas that came under fire by a sniper who killed two migrants, and a nighttime attack on an ICE facility at Prairieland Detention Center, which saw a small mob vandalize buildings and vehicles, then fire rifle shots at local police who responded.
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