FOND DU LAC, Wis. — The 19-year-old Menasha man accused of trying to set Wisconsin Congressman Grothman’s Office on fire in response to his vote in favor of the national TikTok ban appeared in court for the first time, and faces a maximum sentence of up to 50 years in prison between four separate charges.
According to Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric J. Toney, Caiden Stachowicz is facing one count each of Arson of a Building, Terrorist Threats (Interruption of Operations), Attempted Burglary of a Building or Dwelling and Criminal Damage to Property.
When authorities arrived at Grothman’s Office around 1:00 a.m. CST on January 19, 2025, they allegedly saw the suspect lingering near his car. An officer allegedly heard the suspect admit to starting the fire, and when confronted, he reportedly said he did it because he didn’t like the Congressman.
Stachowicz allegedly admitted to purchasing the gas and matches at a Kwik Trip in Menasha, driving to the wrong office first before finding the correct building at 525 N. Peters Ave.
He allegedly tried to break into the building but was unable to, and instead focused on an electrical box and hoped to line the gas to the front of the building. He was unable to accomplish his next goal because of strong winds and the fear of injury.
The defendant also claimed that he did not intend to hurt anyone and did not think anyone was inside the building, but wanted to cause disruption and “said he wished the whole building would have burned down,” according to a criminal complaint.
The following excerpt explaining the TikTok connection is taken from article six of the probable cause statement in this criminal complaint:
“Office West asked Caiden why he wanted to burn this specific building. Caiden stated it was because Tik Tok was being shut down by the U.S. government and Congressman Grothman voted “yes” to have Tik Tok shut. Caiden stated he believed the shutdown was against his constitutional rights. Caiden said in the past he had done peaceful protests but believes that peace isn’t an option anymore, so he set fire to Congressman Grothman’s Office.”
Bond has been set at $500,000. He is expected to appear before a Judge on January 30, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. CST.
“We are grateful for the quick actions of the Fond du Lac Police and Fire Departments that ensured nobody was injured in this attack and prevented more significant property damage,” District Attorney toney said. “We will continue to aggressively prosecute anyone that attempts to intimidate government officials from performing their lawful duties, regardless of whether we agree with the government action.”
Fond du Lac Police and the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation are leading the investigation currently.
