A Wisconsin teenager arrested for setting fire to a mall on Sunday tells authorities he was motivated by the ban on TikTok. New York Times reports.
The incident occurred at a shopping center that houses the district office of Republican US Rep. Glenn Grothman. The City of Fond du Lac Police Department (FDLPD) received reports of a fire around 1 a.m. local time on January 19, the day the nationwide TikTok ban went into effect.
FDLPD extinguished the flames and later arrested a 19-year-old man from Menasha who, according to the AP, was found sitting near the mall, watching the fire. He admitted he started it “in response to recent talks of a TikTok ban” and is now being held in the 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 grateful for the quick response of our officers to help put down the fire and also find the suspect in this arson.”
Rep. Grothman also confirmed to X that no one was hurt. According to Milwaukee Journal SentinelGrotham is among the House members who voted in favor of a bill that would have banned TikTok in the US if its domestic business was sold to a non-foreign company. It later folded in a larger foreign aid bill and gave TikTok until January 19 to sell to a US-based owner.
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TikTok refused to sell and shut down its app in the US on Saturday night. President-elect Trump then promised to “issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s bans go into effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.” So TikTok reinstated the app, adding a pop-up message praising “President Trump’s efforts” for bringing it back, even though Trump hasn’t been sworn in as of noon today and hasn’t done anything yet.
TikTok and other ByteDance apps, such as CapCut, are not yet available in app stores as web hosts such as Google and Apple face heavy penalties under existing law.
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"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. STATEMENT<\/a>. "I am grateful for the quick response of our officers to assist in extinguishing the fire and also in locating the suspect in this arson."<\/p>
Rep. Grothman too confirmed in X<\/a> that no one was hurt. According to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel<\/em><\/a>Grotham is among the members of the House who VOTE<\/a> in favor of a bill TikTok ban<\/a> in the US, unless its domestic business was sold to a non-foreign company. It later folded in a larger foreign aid bill and gave TikTok until January 19 to sell to a US-based owner.<\/p>
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\n \n Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, finds no First Amendment violation<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n Looking for a TikTok alternative? Lemon8 and RedNote are also spying on you<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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