A 21-year-old woman from New Braunfels, Texas, has been taken into police custody and charged in connection with an act of arson at the Comal County Republican Headquarters in January 2026. The woman, who has been identified as Grace Carol Brown, was officially arrested after investigators executed a search and arrest warrant in connection with the crime.
Brown was taken to the Comal County Jail where she was charged with burglary of a building and arson. Her bond was set at $200,000. The crime took place on January 14 when employees who work at the headquarters, located in the 200 block of Landa Street, found that someone had smashed an exterior window and set a small fire inside the building.
The fire resulted in minor damage to the building’s structure, but thankfully resulted in no injuries. Emergency responders from the New Braunfels Police Department and the New Braunfels Fire Department were called to the scene at 1:15 p.m. Investigators from several agencies partnered together to identify the suspect and gather evidence.
According to a report from KWTX, “The New Braunfels Police Department, the New Braunfels Fire Marshal’s Office, and the FBI’s San Antonio office—including their Computer Analysis Response Team (CART)—collaborated on the investigation.” After an investigation lasting a total of 8 days, local authorities obtained the necessary warrants for Brown.
Investigators then executed the warrants on January 22. Brown was taken into custody without incident. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has officially joined the case and is continuing the investigation. Sadly, this isn’t the first time Republicans have had their political offices vandalized by Democrats. The Republican Party of New Mexico had their offices vandalized two years in a row.
A report from Yahoo News stated that the headquarters was set on fire in an arson attack in April 2026. “An object was thrown through one of our glass windows late [Sunday] night, causing damage to both the outside and inside of the office,” a news release said. State GOP Chair Amy Barela commented on the situation, saying she was “enraged and flabbergasted” with the multiple attacks.
“Someone could have been seriously injured as a result of this senseless act of political violence,” she went on to say in a statement. “I am calling on every single elected official in New Mexico, Democrat and Republican, to condemn acts of violence or rhetoric that threaten violence and intimidation, such as this.” Republicans stated at the time that they were combing through surveillance footage and working with local police to identify those responsible for the arson.
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Barela then recounted that an “agitator” firebombed the GOP headquarters in March 2025. Authorities arrested and charged a man from Albuquerque, Jamison Wagner, with the crime, as well as a firebombing at a Tesla showroom in Bernalillo. The latest incident came just days after the office reported an unidentified individual showing up at its headquarters at 8:30 p.m. The person appears to be a woman who held up a small sign for one of the security cameras.
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