A Wisconsin teen set fire to the office of a local Republican lawmaker on Sunday, angry over the ban on TikTok, authorities said.
The Fond du Lac office used by U.S. Rep. Glenn Grossman was set on fire shortly after 1 a.m., and authorities found a 19-year-old man nearby who admitted to starting the fire. the police said.
The boy told police he started the fire “in response to the recent TikTok ban story,” police said.
He is being held in the Fond du Lac County Jail on suspicion of arson, police said.
Additional charges will be filed by the local district attorney's office against the boy, whose name has not been released, but police said is from Menasha.
Police said the building was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported.
The ban on the hugely popular Chinese-owned app was enacted by Congress and went into effect on Sunday. Many of TikTok's 170 million American users were upset until President-elect Donald Trump got involved.
President Trump vowed on Sunday to sign an executive order to give the app time to reach a deal with the U.S. government to keep it running. The company quickly came back online and did not fear any repercussions for the time being.
The TikTok Policy states that “President Trump will provide the necessary clarity and assurance that no penalties will be imposed to bring TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and enable more than 7 million small businesses to thrive.” We thank the providers for providing this.”
“This is a strong position in support of the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution to keep TikTok in the United States.” I added it.
