MADISON, Wis. — On Wednesday, prosecutors charged a Wisconsin man with multiple charges of arson after he allegedly informed police that he attempted to burn down a congressman’s office because he was outraged about the federal TikTok ban.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney charged 19-year-old Caiden Stachowicz with felony arson, making terrorist threats, attempted burglary, and property damage. If convicted of all charges, he could face more than 50 years in prison.
Stachowicz, of Menasha, was supposed to make his first court appearance Wednesday morning. According to online court documents, Judge Tricia Walker set a cash bail of $500,000 and ordered him not to contact Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman or his staff. She also prohibited him from having any dangerous weapons or fire-starting materials.
According to the records, Stachowicz appeared by video conference from jail. They did not list an attorney for him.
According to the complaint, a police officer responded to a fire outside Grothman’s Fond du Lac office at 1 a.m. on Sunday and noticed Stachowicz standing nearby.
The officer stated that as he worked to extinguish the flames with his extinguisher, Stachowicz informed him that he set the fire because he dislikes Grothman. The officer handcuffed Stachowicz and transported him to the police station. Firefighters and police were swift to extinguish the fire, limiting the damage.
According to the complaint, during an interrogation at the department, Stachowicz told the officer that he purchased gas and matches to ignite a fire in Grothman’s office. He stated that he attempted to break into the office to start the fire inside but was unable to shatter the window. According to the lawsuit, he then poured gas on an electrical box in the building’s back and around the front, lighted a match, and watched it burn.
He stated that he wanted to burn down the building since the US government was shutting down TikTok, and Grothman voted “yes” to taking it down, according to the lawsuit. Grothman voted for a law in April that required TikTok’s China-based corporation, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. operations by Sunday.
Stachowicz stated that he believed the shutdown violated his constitutional rights. According to the complaint, he previously participated in peaceful protests but now believes peace is no longer an option.
“Caiden said that it was a government building and wanted to cause disruption and make a point by starting the building on fire,” according to the charge. “Caiden said he wished the whole building would have burned down.”
When asked if he hoped people were inside the building, he replied that he didn’t want to hurt anyone, even Grothman himself.
TikTok went black late Saturday, but the platform reopened hours later when then-President-elect Donald Trump stated that he would give ByteDance more time to find a buyer. Following his inauguration on Monday, Trump issued an executive order instructing the US attorney general not to enforce the ban for 75 days.
When asked for comment on the claims, Grothman spokesperson Noelle Young said she will contact The Associated Press directly. As of early Wednesday afternoon, the congressman has yet to contact the Associated Press.
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