FOND DU LAC, Wisconsin, USA (AP) — A man accused of setting fire to a congressman’s office in Wisconsin this Sunday told authorities that his motivation was the federal ban of the popular video platform, TikTok.
Republican representative Glenn Grothman had voted last April in favor of the bill that requires the Chinese-based parent company of TikTok to sell its operation in the United States.
The fire in Fond du Lac was reported around 1:00 a.m.
The building was unoccupied at that time and no injuries were reported, according to the police. The fire started outside the building and caused minor damages before being extinguished by the firefighters.
The 19-year-old from Menasha, whose name has not been revealed, is in custody and will be charged with arson.
Grothman said he was aware of the fire, but did not make immediate comments about it.
Around 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, TikTok announced that it had restored its service in the United States after the popular video platform went dark in response to a federal ban that President-elect Donald Trump said he would try to pause through an executive order on his first day in office.
Trump announced that he planned to give the parent company of TikTok more time to find an approved buyer before facing a permanent ban in the United States. The president announced the measure on his Truth Social account.
The company said that Trump gave them "the clarity and guarantees necessary."
"In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring the service. We thank President Trump for providing the clarity and assurances necessary to our service providers, assuring them that they will not face sanctions for offering TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing more than 7 million small businesses to thrive. This is a strong stance in favor 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," the organization said in a press release.