Federal authorities have arrested Inique Hinton, a 31-year-old resident of Douglasville, Georgia, in connection with an attempted arson attack targeting a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Atlanta.
The incident occurred on the evening of October 20 at the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office located at 180 Ted Turner Drive.
According to a criminal complaint and supporting affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, security camera footage showed a man matching Hinton’s description walking northbound on Ted Turner Drive at approximately 8:12 p.m. He was wearing a black shirt, khaki pants, and black shoes and carrying a white plastic bag.
At about 8:14 p.m., he was recorded lighting an item and throwing it toward the building. The device struck the exterior security fence, causing the top portion of the fence to catch fire. The man then walked away southbound toward Whitehall Street.
An Atlanta Police Department officer nearby observed the throw and pursued him on foot, but the suspect fled the scene.
Investigators recovered remnants of a burned cloth from the fence, along with a plastic bag containing at least one bottle of suspected lighter fluid, a glass bottle, and a lighter from the adjacent sidewalk. The FBI’s Evidence Response Team soon arrived on the scene, at which point they seized and photographed the items.
No injuries were reported, and the device did not reach the main building.
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The following day, agents reviewed footage from a convenience store approximately 0.1 miles away. An individual matching the description made a purchase using a cellphone about an hour before the incident, while the associated Visa card number led investigators to a Bank of America account held by Hinton.
Further checks through the account’s linked phone number, AT&T subscriber records, and a Georgia driver’s license confirmed his residence, as well as a matching photograph. License plate reader data also placed Hinton’s registered white 2020 Kia Optima near the facility earlier that evening and in the vicinity shortly afterward.
Hinton was taken into custody without incident by FBI agents at a residence in Cobb County on October 23. He faces federal charges of destruction of federal property by fire or explosive under 18 U.S.C. § 844(f)(1) and depredation of government property under 18 U.S.C. § 1361. The arson-related charge carries a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted, while the depredation charge carries a maximum of 10 years.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg stated that Hinton was not known to have a prior history of criminal convictions. His initial court appearance was scheduled for the following Monday.
“Attacking a federal building with an incendiary device like a Molotov cocktail is a despicable, terroristic crime that warrants an immediate and severe response,” Hertzberg said following the arrest. He also described the incident as “an attack against our democracy” and “an act of terrorism,” though it is unclear whether prosecutors will be filing additional terrorism-related charges as of this report.
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