Woman torches Kansas City warehouse amid rumors it could be sold to DHS for immigration detention facility

The Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to buy locations across the US to create detention centers for illegal immigrants on the road to deportation, but one such potential facility in Kansas City, Missouri, will not be one of those locations. Platform Ventures was in talks with DHS to sell a property called 49 Crossing but announced on Thursday that they were not moving forward.

A woman set fire to a warehouse located at the 1 million-square-foot industrial facility. KMBC shared surveillance footage of the fire starter, saying "A woman tried to set a fire at a South Kansas City warehouse that had been rumored as a possible ICE detention center. Earlier today, the company that owns the property confirmed it is no longer moving forward with a sale to the U.S. government."

In the video, a white woman in sandals, jeans, a short sleeve black shirt, and a little black backpack can be seen squirting accelerant onto the building and lighting a match, another bottle of it at her feet. When the accelerant bottle is empty, she throws it aside and walks away from the building.

In January, rumors began that 49 Crossing might be sold to DHS for immigration enforcement. Port authority Port KC discussed the potential sale in a January 26 meeting, asserting that they would cut ties with Platform Ventures over their potential plans to sell property to the federal government.

When asked about the potential sale on January 16, Platform Ventures said they didn't discuss sales or prospective buyers, KMBC reports, noting that the company also said negotiations had finished. Local leaders were opposed to the sale.

Platform Ventures put out a statement on February 12 amid speculation, saying the only reason they were addressing the potential sale was due to "baseless speculation, inaccurate narratives and serious threats toward leadership." They went on to say, "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."

"As we stated previously, we were approached by a third-party private enterprise for this transaction and entered into preliminary negotiations consistent with the fiduciary duties owed to our investors. As negotiations concluded, we learned the purchasing party was the U.S. Government. Over the course of the building sale process, we determined that the terms no longer met our fiduciary requirements for a timely closing. Therefore, we chose not to move forward."

Mayor Quinton Lucas said, "I am aware of a recent release from a Kansas City firm regarding a distribution facility in south Kansas City that has been rumored as a target for a mass ICE detention encampment of up to 10,000 persons," Lucas said in a statement. "While Kansas City welcomes any news suggesting the halting of a planned conversion of a warehouse for goods and products into a human encampment, I will continue with our legislative, legal efforts and community engagement to ensure no warehouse or similar facility in Kansas City or nearby is converted to a mass encampment warehouse of persons that is offensive to the dignity and human rights of those who would be detained within it."