Wisconsin Man Charged with Arson for Allegedly Burning Congressman’s Office in Dispute Over TikTok Ban

MADISON, Wis.—A Wisconsin man has been charged by prosecutors after allegedly telling police he attempted to set a congressman’s office on fire due to his anger over the federal TikTok ban. The charges include multiple counts of arson.

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney filed a complaint against 19-year-old Caiden Stachowicz, accusing him of felony arson, making terrorist threats, attempted burglary, and property damage. If found guilty on all charges, he faces over 50 years in prison.

Stachowicz, from Menasha, was due to make his initial court appearance Wednesday morning, but online court records did not indicate whether he had legal representation.

According to the complaint, a police officer responded to a fire outside Republican U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman’s Fond du Lac office around 1 a.m. on Sunday and found Stachowicz nearby.

As the officer worked to extinguish the fire, Stachowicz reportedly admitted to starting it because he was displeased with Grothman. The officer then handcuffed Stachowicz and transported him to the police headquarters. Firefighters and police were able to quickly put out the fire, which minimized damage.

During an interview at the station, Stachowicz revealed that he purchased gasoline and matches to ignite a fire at Grothman’s office, according to the complaint. He attempted to break into the office but could not shatter the window. Instead, he poured gasoline on an electrical box in the rear of the building and around the front, lit a match, and watched the fire spread.

He expressed his desire to burn down the building was due to the U.S. government’s decision to shut down TikTok, with Grothman voting in favor of the ban. Grothman had supported legislation last April requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. operations by Sunday.

Stachowicz claimed this shutdown infringed upon his constitutional rights. He mentioned that while he has participated in peaceful protests previously, he no longer sees nonviolent methods as viable, according to the complaint.

The complaint also noted, “Caiden stated that since it was a government building, he aimed to create disruption and make a statement by igniting the fire. He expressed a wish that the entire building would have burned down.”

When asked if he hoped anyone was inside the building, he replied no, indicating he did not want to injure anyone or harm Grothman personally.

TikTok was inaccessible late Saturday but resumed service a few hours later when then-President-elect Donald Trump indicated he would allow ByteDance additional time to locate a buyer. Following his inauguration, Trump issued an executive order instructing the U.S. attorney general not to enforce the ban for 75 days.

Grothman has not yet commented on the charges as of Wednesday.

By Todd Richmond