NEWSFBI Investigates Throwing of Molotov Cocktails at ICE Facility in Georgia as Suspect Remains at Large
An ICE facility in Atlanta was attacked.
Oct. 21 2026, Published 5:34 p.m. ET
The FBI is investigating an incident from October 20 in which people threw what the bureau describes as "incendiary devices" at an ICE facility in Georgia.
According to local reports, three so-called molotov cocktails were thrown at a facility in downtown Georgia, where they did minor damage and caused no injuries.
Suspect Remains at Large
FBI said there's no threat to public safety.
“FBI personnel and evidence response technicians are on site collecting evidence,” the FBI said in a statement. “There is no known threat to public safety at this time.”
The incident took place at around 8:15 p.m. on October 20. The suspect in the case is at large as the FBI and local police investigate.
Atlanta ICE Facility Previously Peppered With Molotov Cocktails
Protestors threw molotovs at the facility in 2020.
This is not the first time molotov cocktails have been thrown at an ICE facility in Atlanta. In July 2020, a man named Ronald Scott Watson allegedly tossed molotov cocktails at the facility and has eluded capture for six years.
The incident occurred during the 2020 protests, when demonstrators allegedly caused more than $78,000 in damage to the building. In September, the FBI announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
There is no evidence linking Watson to the October 20 attack on the facility.
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Georgia Is a Focus of ICE Unrest
ICE has been a hot button issue in Georgia.
Georgia has been the site of intense opposition to ICE and particularly how it treats ICE detainees.
Earlier in October, 73 detainees at Folkston D Ray James ICE processing center engaged in a hunger strike to protest the horrific conditions they face at the facility. The strikers allege substandard medical care, threats from guards, moldy food and a lack of due process.
The detainees claim they have been held at the facility for over a year and in some cases over two years as the U.S. drags its feet on their asylum cases.
ICE at the Center of Midterm Debates in Georgia
Georgia politicians have debated ICE ahead of the midterms.
The molotov cocktail attack in Atlanta comes just two weeks ahead of the 2026 midterms, where Georgians will vote on one Senator and a new governor.
Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff is favored to defeat Republican challenger Mike Collins in the Senate race, while Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson are in a neck and neck race.
Ossoff has demanded accountability for ICE and criticized its treatment of detainees. He opposed the construction of an ICE detention facility in the state, and the facility was never built.
When she was Mayor of Atlanta in 2018, Bottoms signed an executive order directing Atlanta prisons to not accept ICE detainees.
