Kansas City woman sentenced for arson at warehouse near proposed ICE facility

Dara O’Connor, 30, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for setting fire to a warehouse in Kansas City, Missouri. The incident occurred in February on Botts Road at a property that had been the subject of reports regarding a potential sale to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for use as a detention center. However, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri noted that the transaction to purchase the building was never completed.

O’Connor pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly possessing two unregistered destructive devices. During the incident, which was witnessed and recorded by news crews reporting on the building’s sale status, O’Connor threw two Molotov cocktails at the structure. After the devices broke and spilled flammable liquid, she ignited the exterior wall and used additional accelerant to attempt to spread the flames.

In addition to her prison sentence, O’Connor was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $43,612 in restitution for the damages caused to the warehouse.