🔴 Website 👉 https://u-s-news.com/
Telegram 👉 https://t.me/usnewscom_channel
A 20-year-old Wisconsin man was sentenced to seven years in prison for setting fire to Rep. Glenn Grothman’s (R-WI) office.
Caiden Stachowicz allegedly started the fire over the lawmaker’s support of the bill to ban TikTok.
Prison time for setting fire to Rep. Glenn Grothman’s office over the TikTok ban
https://t.co/Gu47Kzmnfj pic.twitter.com/TN3rjRjfpS— 620 WTMJ (@620wtmj) March 5, 2026
Wisconsin Public Radio shared further:
Stachowicz was arrested and charged in January 2025. According to a criminal complaint, he told police he started a fire at the Fond du Lac office of U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, over the representative’s “yes” vote on a briefly-enforced federal ban on TikTok.
Stachowicz first tried to break into the office but was unsuccessful, and then started a fire near an electrical unit behind the building.
In a statement, Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney said political violence isn’t a partisan issue.
“It must be taken seriously to protect our Democratic Republic and ensure that the best of America are willing to step up and serve their communities and our country,” Toney stated.
Before he received his sentence, Stachowicz read an apology statement in the courtroom.
“I don’t ask or expect anybody to forgive me. I only want you and everybody affected to know that I’m honestly sorry for what I did,” he said, according to the New York Post.
“My mental and emotional issues are no excuse for my actions. I take full responsibility for them. Thank you for hearing me out. I harbor no bad feelings for you, and I wish you the best of luck in your career,” he added.
🚨Just in: A 19-year-old who was upset over TikTok ban set fire to U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman’s local office in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, authorities say. No injuries were reported, and the suspect has been arrested
What is your response? pic.twitter.com/g0BS9Cj3kh
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) January 19, 2025
More from the New York Post:
He told officers he wanted to burn down the office because the federal government was going to shut down the popular social media app TikTok. Grothman had voted for a bill in April 2024 requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based company, to sell its US operation.
Stachowicz said the action to ban the app violated his constitutional rights and that peace was no longer an option. He added that he didn’t want to hurt Grothman or anyone else, the complaint said.
The deadline to sell TikTok was Jan. 19, 2025, the day of the arson. The app went dark late on Jan. 18th, but service was restored less than a day later. President Trump has since issued multiple executive orders to keep the app up and running.
TikTok finalized a deal two months ago to create an American version of the social video platform.
Danielle Gorsuch, one of Stachowicz’s attorneys, told The Associated Press after the sentencing that the incident was the culmination of a mental health crisis for her client.
“Caden took every caution to make sure no one was present in the building at the time of the incident, as he only wanted to hurt himself,” Gorsuch said, stressing nobody was hurt. “He took responsibility from night one.”