A Wisconsin teen arrested for setting fire to a strip mall on Sunday tells authorities that he was motivated by the TikTok ban, The New York Times reports.
The incident occurred at a mall that houses Republican US Rep. Glenn Grothman’s district office. The City of Fond du Lac Police Department (FDLPD) received reports of a fire around 1 a.m. local time on Jan. 19—the day the nationwide ban on TikTok went into effect.
The FDLPD extinguished the blaze and then arrested a 19-year-old man from Menasha who, according to the AP, was found sitting near the mall, watching the fire. He admitted to starting it “in response to recent talks of a TikTok ban” and is now being held at Fond du Lac County Jail.
“We are relieved that no one was injured and the office was unoccupied at the time of the fire,” FDLPD Chief Aaron Goldstein said in a statement. “I am thankful for the swift response of our officers in helping knock down the fire and also locating the suspect of this arson.”
Rep. Grothman also confirmed on X that no one was injured. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Grotham is among the House members who voted in favor of a bill banning TikTok in the US unless its domestic business was sold to a non-foreign company. It was later folded into a larger foreign aid bill, and gave TikTok until Jan. 19 to sell to a US-based owner.
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TikTok refused to sell and shut off its app in the US on Saturday night. Incoming President Trump then promised to “issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.” So, TikTok restored the app, adding a pop-up message that credited “President Trump’s efforts” for its return, even though Trump is not sworn in until noon today and hasn’t done anything yet.
TikTok and other ByteDance apps, like CapCut, are still not available on the app stores since web hosts like Google and Apple face major penalties under the existing law.
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About Jibin Joseph
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