Kansas City Woman Sentenced to 24 Months for Throwing Molotov Cocktails at Warehouse Eyed for ICE Use, Ordered to Pay $43,612
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, woman was sentenced in federal court on October 28 to 24 months in prison for possessing two unregistered destructive devices that she used to set fire to a warehouse, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri announced.
Dara S. O'Connor, 30, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 24 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. The court also ordered her to pay $43,612 for damage caused when she used the devices to set fire to the warehouse; prosecutors said she has paid the full amount under her plea agreement. On May 7, 2026, O'Connor pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly possessing two destructive devices that were not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
According to prosecutors, on February 12, 2026, O'Connor tried to destroy by fire a warehouse on Botts Road in Kansas City. News reports had previously indicated that the federal government had attempted to purchase the warehouse and that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wanted to use it to house people during the adjudication of their removal proceedings, but that real estate transaction did not occur.
News crews at the warehouse, reporting that the deal had fallen through, watched and recorded O'Connor approach the building. She threw two incendiary devices, commonly known as Molotov cocktails, at the building; the cloth wicks were not lit when thrown. After several throws, both bottles shattered and the flammable liquid spread over the building's surface. O'Connor then ignited the liquid, starting a fire, and squeezed a bottle of accelerant to spray more fuel onto the flames and spread the fire.
After starting the fire, O'Connor sat on a nearby curb and used her cell phone for a few minutes. The fire went out after a few minutes, and she left the area in her vehicle. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Trey Alford and David Wagner and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Chlarson, and was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Kansas City Police Department. The Justice Department said the case is part of Operation Take Back America.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Missouri 州 Kansas City 的 Charles Evans Whittaker 联邦法院大楼（本案宣判地）。照片：Voidxor 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Charles Evans Whittaker U.S. Courthouse in Kansas City, Missouri. Photo: Voidxor, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
