By Steve Neavling
A man is facing federal arson charges after authorities say he threatened a security officer and later set fire to the guardhouse at the FBI’s Chicago Field Office.
James Lofton was scheduled to make his first court appearance on charges of maliciously damaging and destroying a U.S. government building by means of fire, CBS News reports.
Four weeks before the fire, Lofton is accused of approaching the guardhouse and telling the officer, “B****, I’m going to burn you, and everyone is going to die. You f***ing Mexicans are going to burn and die.”
Authorities say Lofton returned to the security station shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday and doused his jacket with fire and used it to set the guardhouse ablaze.
The FBI arrested him a few blocks away about 15 minutes later.
In August, another man was arrested for throwing rocks at the field office.
