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A woman was arrested on August 30, after tossing a lit Molotov cocktail into the lobby of a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Oakland Park, Florida. Oakland Park is in Broward County, about four miles north of Fort Lauderdale. Fortunately, the fuse disconnected from the bottle and it didn’t ignite.
The Washington Times, citing court records, reported that the woman, identified as Cellicia Hunt, was charged with maliciously attempting to damage or destroy a government building by fire. Hunt, who is 35 years old, is expected to appear in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on September 3. She was being held without bail in a local jail, reported the Times, but it was not immediately clear whether she had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of USCIS, said in a tweet: “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.”
“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,” Cuccinelli added.
Hunt’s action was immediately seized upon by one of the most radical groups in the country. The Base, which describes itself as “an anarchist political center in Bushwick, Brooklyn, committed to the dissemination of revolutionary left and anarchist ideas and organizing,” posted the following message on its website:
This week at Support Through the Walls we are writing to Cellicia Hunt. She’s been accused of attacking a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Oakland Park, Florida. She’s currently being held without bail. In light of the increasingly vicious ethnic cleansing campaign going in the US, we wanted to show her support. We also would like to stress that people should not mention anything about any illegal activities in any way when writing to her.
NTD News reported on August 31 that earlier this month in Texas, the FBI opened a federal case after shots were fired into two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office buildings on August 13.
“Had the bullets gone two inches in another direction, we could be talking about the murder of a federal official,” NTD News quoted FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs.
“I think the environment where we are demonizing law enforcement for doing their jobs for enforcing a law on the books is concerning,” DHS acting secretary Kevin McAleenan told Fox News.
“It can be dangerous,” McAleenan said. “And it can result in people taking actions that are not supported by the facts and that are not in response to anything inappropriate that our men and women of ICE are doing.
“This is the fourth incident of violence or an issue at an ICE facility,” he added. “It does appear to be targeted.”
Image: Smitt via iStock / Getty Images Plus
Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at [email protected].
