Woman Sets Fire to KC Warehouse Over Potential Sale to ICE for Detention Facility

Original article here

Police in Kansas City, Missouri are looking for a woman suspected of setting fire to a warehouse that had been considered for purchase by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a potential detention facility.

Witnesses and video evidence show an, as yet, unidentified woman spraying a liquid on the the building Thursday afternoon and then setting it on fire.

According to KCTV, the fire was extinguished before before it could spread and no one was injured.

The warehouse had been the focus of intense protest by anti-ICE activists who had learned that its owners, Platform Ventures, had offered to sell the building to the federal government, possibly to be used as a detention facility.

Earlier that day, Platform Ventures had announced that it would not be moving forward with selling the 900,000 square foot facility to the federal government.

In a statement, the company said, “Platform Ventures is not actively engaged with the U.S. Government or any other prospective purchaser involving a sale of its property at the I-49 Industrial Center.”

The news release continued, “While typically we do not comment on potential transactions, baseless speculation, inaccurate narratives, and serious threats toward our leadership, our employees and our families have prompted us to issue this statement.”

Earlier this year, ICE and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials had toured the facility and had suggested that it could be used as a detention center.

Kansas City police and fire officials said the fire appeared to have been intentionally set and that the suspect left the scene before investigators arrived.

The suspect remains at large.