Wisconsin
Wisconsin man accused of setting congressman's office on fire over TikTok ban charged with arson
MADISON, Wis. — Prosecutors charged a Wisconsin man who allegedly told police he tried to burn down a congressman’s office because he was upset with the federal TikTok ban with multiple counts on Wednesday, including arson.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney filed a complaint against 19-year-old Caiden Stachowicz charging him with felony arson, making terrorist threats, attempted burglary and property damage. He would face more than 50 years behind bars if convicted on all counts.
Stachowicz, of Menasha, was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Wednesday morning. Online court records indicated Judge Tricia Walker set a $500,000 cash bail for him and ordered him to have no contact with Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman or his staff. She also barred him from possessing any dangerous weapons or fire-starting materials.
The records showed Stachowicz appeared via video conference from jail. They did not list an attorney for him.
According to the complaint, a police officer responded to a fire outside Grothman’s Fond du Lac office around 1 a.m. Sunday and saw Stachowicz standing nearby.
The officer said that as he worked to put out the flames with his extinguisher, Stachowicz told him that he started the fire because he doesn’t like Grothman. The officer handcuffed Stachowicz and took him to the police department. Firefighters and police quickly extinguished the fire, limiting the damage.
During an interview at the department, Stachowicz told the officer that he bought gas and matches to start a fire at Grothman’s office, according to the complaint. He said that he tried to break into the office so he could start the fire inside but couldn’t break the window. He then poured the gas on an electrical box in the back of the building and around the front of the building, lit a match and watched it burn, according to the complaint.
He said he wanted to burn the building down because the U.S. government was shutting down TikTok and Grothman voted “yes” to shutting it down, according to the complaint. Grothman voted for a bill last April that mandated TikTok’s China-based company, ByteDance, sell its U.S. operation by Sunday.
Stachowicz said that he believed the shutdown violated his constitutional rights. He added that in the past he has participated in peaceful protests but no longer believes peace is an option, according to the complaint.
“Caiden said that it was a government building and wanted to cause disruption and make a point by starting the building on fire,” the complaint said. “Caiden said he wished the whole building would have burned down.”
Asked if he hoped people were inside the building, he said no and that he didn’t want to hurt anyone and didn’t want to harm Grothman himself.
TikTok went dark late Saturday, but the platform came back online hours later after then-President-elect Donald Trump said he would try to give ByteDance more time to find a buyer. Trump signed an executive order Monday after he was inaugurated instructing the U.S. attorney general not to enforce the ban for 75 days.
Asked for comment on the charges, Grothman spokesperson Noelle Young responded by saying Grothman would call The Associated Press directly. The congressman had not contacted the AP as of early Wednesday afternoon.
With the action-packed Wisconsin high school boys basketball regular season completed and March Madness beginning, it’s time to take a look at some of the outstanding players and cast your vote for the best.
We began by looking at the most prolific individual scoring threats, talented 3-point shooters,strong rebounders, and top free-throw shooters so now it’s time to take a look at the high-caliber guards from throughout the state.
There are hundreds of high-caliber boys basketball players in Wisconsin, and these lists are not intended to be comprehensive.
Voting remains open until March 9 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
(Players are listed in alphabetical order and all nominees are leaders from the 2025-26 season as compiled by Bound.com, and WIAA; the poll is below the list of athletes)
Castillo is averaging 25.4 points per game with 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals for Greendale (18-6 overall record).
Collien is averaging 15 points per game with 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists for Oakfield (21-3 overall record).
Edwards is averaging 14.1 points per game with 7.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists for D.C. Everest (21-3 overall record).
Gray Jr. was averaging 24.3 points per game with 6.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals prior for West Allis Central (22-2 overall record).
Hereford is averaging 36.4 points per game with 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 4.1 steals for Beloit Memorial (22-2 overall record).
Johnson is averaging 27.3 points per game with 8.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 3.6 steals for Milwaukee Juneau (22-1 overall record).
Jones is averaging 23.3 points per game with 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.6 steals for Germantown (15-9 overall record).
Kern is averaging 16 points per game with 6.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists for New Berlin West (21-3 overall record).
Kilgore is averaging 14.6 points per game with 7.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.0 steals for Kewaunee (24-0 overall record).
Kohnen is averaging 16.3 points per game with 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 steals for Slinger (20-4 overall record).
Knueppel is averaging 17.4 points per game with 7.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.4 steals for Wisconsin Lutheran (24-0 overall record).
Loose is averaging 18.2 points per game with 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.3 steals for Port Washington (23-1 overall).
Manchester is averaging 35.8 points per game for Mount Horeb (19-5 overall record).
Platz is averaging 19.5 points per game with 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists, and 1.4 steals for Brookfield East (19-5 overall record).
Prochnow is averaging 21.3 points per game with 11.1 assists, 4.8 assists, and 3.2 steals for Reedsville (21-3 overall record).
Resch is averaging 21.3 points per game with 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals for Arrowhead (18-6 overall record).
Schultz is averaging 27.4 points per game with 6.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 steals for Plymouth (17-7 overall record).
Schwalbach is averaging 15 points per game with 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 steals for Kaukauna (21-3 overall).
Sweeney is averaging 15.5 points per game for Appleton North (20-4 overall record).
Vandenberg is averaging 13 points per game with 2.3 assists and 2.0 rebounds for Freedom (23-1 overall).
About Our Player Poll Voting
High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.
— Jeff Hagenau | jeffreyhagenau@gmail.com
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