FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — Rep. Glenn Grothman's office caught fire Sunday morning in what police say was an arson in retaliation for a U.S. ban on TikTok. The Republican congressman tells NBC 26 he's "never heard of anything like it."
- Hear what Wisconsin's 6th District U.S. Representative had to say after a 19-year-old was arrested for allegedly setting fire to his Fond du Lac office
- Rep. Grothman says most of the damage is to the outer rear part of his office building, with some smoke damage inside
- Rep. Grothman says the suspect has never contacted his office before
- Fond du Lac Police have yet to release the suspect's name
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
Just after 1 a.m. Sunday police and firefighters in Fond du Lac arrived at a building where a U.S. Congressman rents office space. They were responding to a fire they now believe was started on purpose.
A 19-year-old Menasha man is in jail after police say he admitted to starting a fire at Congressman Glenn Grothman's office building early Sunday morning. Fond du Lac police say nobody was hurt in the fire.
NBC's Pari Apostolakos spoke with Rep. Grothman over Zoom after he watched President Trump's inauguration in Washington Monday. Grothman says most of the damage is to the back of his offices, with the interior suffering some smoke damage.
"We were very fortunate that some alert citizen called the police," Rep. Grothman said Monday afternoon.
Grothman, a Republican representing Wisconsin's 6th District, has expressed concern with TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, which has access to the data of its American users.
Three years ago, the congressman joined other Republican lawmakers in asking Gov. Evers to ban the app's use on government devices in Wisconsin.
"Now that [TikTok] service has been restored to the U.S. after a deal was reportedly struck between Trump and TikTok, did that ease your concerns around the issue? How do you feel now?" Pari asked the congressman.
"I really, I'm not focused on the issue because I think when somebody does something like this they are the type of person looking for attention, that sort of thing," Grothman said. "I think this person, if it wasn't the TikTok issue that caused him to light fire at my office, he would have found some other issue."
The congressman tells NBC 26 the suspect has never contacted his office before.
"I can't think of any congressman who's had their office attacked for something like that," Grothman said. "Much less an attempted arson."
The Fond du Lac Police Department says the fire is still under investigation. Police have not yet named the suspect and NBC 26 is still awaiting word on any potential charges.
