Los Angeles man arrested for throwing Molotov cocktails at security officers inside ICE building

A Los Angeles man has been arrested for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at security officers inside a federal building with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices.

Jose Francisco Jovel, 54, of Koreatown, was arrested Monday and charged with attempted malicious damage of federal property, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. He was expected to make his initial appearance on Wednesday at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

Hours after Jovel allegedly set his Koreatown apartment on fire for receiving an eviction notice on Monday, he arrived at the federal building in the Civic Center of downtown Los Angeles and allegedly threw one of the improvised incendiary devices into open doors of the building, including where a line of members of the public were waiting to go through security to enter the building, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint.

Jovel attempted to light at least one, per evidence collected from the scene. He was immediately arrested by federal officers, who searched the bags he brought with him and found a lighter and five additional Molotov cocktails, according to the department.

Jovel said during his arrest that he was motivated by his anger at the federal government over its immigration policies and actions. He described his actions as “a terrorist attack” and said to the officers, “you’re separating families.” Jovel then yelled for people to “start shooting these,” referring to the officers, the department also said.

“This case exemplifies how misleading and hateful rhetoric against federal law enforcement can and does result in violence,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. “Irresponsible rhetoric by politicians and activists have real-world consequences. It must stop.”

If convicted, Jovel would face a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years.