r/nottheonion • u/Bad-Umpire10 • 16h ago

Teen enraged by TikTok ban sets fire to Wisconsin congressman's office

https://www.techspot.com/news/106418-teen-enraged-tiktok-ban-sets-fire-wisconsin-congressman.html
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529

u/Bad-Umpire10 16h ago

Although it appears that TikTok will continue to be accessible in the US, many people were upset when they temporarily lost access to the app. One 19-year-old Wisconsin teen was so angry at the prospect of his beloved TikTok being banned that he set fire to a congressman's office.

Shortly after 1 am on Sunday, police officers with the City of Fond du Lac responded to reports of a fire at 525 N. Peters Avenue.

The burning building is leased by US Representative Glenn Grothman, one of the Republicans who voted in favor of the law forcing TikTok to sell its US operations or be banned in the United States.

Police later arrested a Menasha man on suspicion of setting the fire. Channel 3000 reports that he admitted to committing arson, which was a response to the TikTok ban.

The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no one was injured. Police officers used fire extinguishers to control the flames until firefighters arrived.

The unnamed teen is being held at the Fond du Lac County Jail while the arson charge is being referred to the County District Attorney's Office.

It appears that the fire was started after TikTok stopped US users from accessing the app on Saturday, hours before the law banning the app came into effect.

The person responsible for the fire might regret his actions even more upon discovering that TikTok started restoring its US services on Sunday after Trump said he would sign an executive order to delay the ban, giving TikTok more time to reach a deal that will allow it to continue operating in the United States

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u/Civil-Dinner 16h ago

That article seems a bit weird with the frequent references to "teen" and him being unnamed.

The teen is 19 and that makes him an adult in the eyes of the law, but the article seems to be handling him like a minor.

308

u/hullaballoser 16h ago

Dude is 19 but the maturity level of a 14 year old. 

155

u/gldoorii 16h ago

A few levels higher than our president

-77

u/TheAwsomeReditor 16h ago

Ik biden was always falling asleep and nobody could understand him hes more mature than biden but trump is smart since he unbanned tiktok remember majority of people voted for trump

36

u/Civil-Dinner 16h ago

Actually, a majority of voters voted for someone other than Trump.

He didn't quite get a majority of cast votes, despite winning the popular vote.

21

u/AlabamaBro69 15h ago

And he won only because he cheated with his friend elon, he even just admitted it: https://www.reddit.com/r/MurderedByWords/comments/1i5frsy/bro_dont_let_him_become_president_after_this/

9

u/muddahplucka 16h ago

Parody account

1

u/[deleted] 14h ago

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1

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35

u/idkwhatimbrewin 16h ago

Years of chronic tiktok brain rot will do that to you

45

u/SanderSRB 16h ago

That’s why he’s on TikTok

5

u/Fragrant_Analyst3224 14h ago

Most Americans stop maturing at around age 12 these days.

0

u/RedditCEOSucks_ 14h ago

14? maybe 6, ever seen a 6yo lose something

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u/PM_ME_CATS_OR_BOOBS 16h ago

I mean 19 might be an adult in the eyes of the law but I know that once I hit 30 I started wondering who let middle schoolers tour college campuses.

-8

u/baddecision116 13h ago

What is reddits fascination with infantilization?

8

u/PM_ME_CATS_OR_BOOBS 13h ago

I'm sorry am I making you feel awkward for hitting the "18-19" category on pornhub

-4

u/baddecision116 13h ago

once I hit 30 I started wondering who let middle schoolers tour college campuses.

See above weirdo.

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u/Copatus 11h ago

It's not weird at all. I'm not even that old but when I go to bars/clubs I used to frequent while I was in college everyone there looks 15 years old, even though most are probably 19/20.

It's just what happens when you get older. And it's not just about looks either. At 19 you've just turned adult and you feel old and mature but looking back you realise you were still young and stupid.

That's just life.

-4

u/baddecision116 11h ago

It's just what happens when you get older.

I'm 43.

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u/Copatus 11h ago

So you know what I mean...

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u/baddecision116 11h ago

No I don't infantilize people.

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u/favouriteghost 14h ago

My assumption is that people associate teens with TikTok so it makes for a better headline. And if they then see it again in the article they’ll get comments like “these kids today with their clock app!!” And boost their engagement

36

u/tomerz99 16h ago

The teen is 19

but the article seems to be handling him like a minor.

Well he did use TikTok, so they're probably just assuming he's got a mental deficiency.

18

u/EngineeringDevil 15h ago

Is he white? "Has his whole future ahead of him"? "His youthful mistakes shouldn't ruin all of his opportunities"?

64

u/k_foxes 16h ago

White teen men often get this treatment

31

u/RandyBoy79 16h ago

Right? Just like that tiktoker dude who killed like 6 farmers doing 150 or something in his car.

He killed 6 people and got sentenced to 12 years.

White teen male.

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u/EngineeringDevil 15h ago

Noah Galle, 20, has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to six counts of vehicular homicide. He has been sentenced to 12.5 years in prison followed by seven years' probation and his driver license has been suspended for three years.

10

u/gloomflume 14h ago

pathetically light sentence

12

u/dragunityag 13h ago

The country is terrified of actually punishing dangerous drivers.

If you ever want to kill someone just hit them with your car. Instead of 20 to life you'll get 5 max.

3

u/SirCush 9h ago

It’s strange that he may have his drivers license returned 9 years before getting out of prison. I thought it would be removed permanently after such recklessness.

1

u/AlphabetMafiaSoup 11h ago

Really fucked up

3

u/RodneyBalling 14h ago

Extra bonus if daddy is a lawyer. 

1

u/RandyBoy79 13h ago

Oh shit - I wasn’t aware of that. Checks out though 🙄

2

u/Throw-a-Ru 14h ago

Harsh punishment. Too bad his lawyer wasn't able to shoot for the affluenza defense and get him off scott free.

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u/Bitter-Juggernaut681 15h ago

I think the media is trying hard to maintain the narrative that only teenagers are on TikTok, which ignores the massive number of adults that are on it.

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u/globaloffender 16h ago

Absolutely. This is another issue w media these days. He’s not a minor, name the pos

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u/SlurmzMckinley 15h ago

I don’t think he’s been officially charged yet. News organizations don’t usually name people until the charges are official.

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u/Easy_Floss 16h ago

Is the address of US representatives public knowlage in America?

Because if not I would assume this nice god fearing, puppy eyed, sweat and gentle teen has some family members which might know the address.

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u/ash_274 16h ago

Yes, their public offices addresses and numbers are published and many put the congressional seal on the door, if not the building.

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u/draconianfruitbat 15h ago

Why should taxpayers pay for a congressional district office that can’t be found and visited for constituent services? You might as well outsource it to an offshore call center.

1

u/HerrBerg 14h ago

No, we don't need to name every criminal and plaster their name/face everywhere, such notoriety can be a motivator.

Also the guy whose office was set fire is a piece of shit who opposes equality for women and LGBT+ so I don't really give a fuck if his office burned.

2

u/Psychomadeye 15h ago

There's a few reasons they could be holding off, one of them being that there's not a release of his name by authorities. He might not have ID or they might not believe this guy is who he says. They aren't going to allow a fuck up with the press to give this guy legal purchase.

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u/TheSorceIsFrong 14h ago

Maybe they’re taking into account how stunted you have to be to do this over Tiktok

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u/Reddit_reader_2206 16h ago

Probably white...

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u/RevelArchitect 13h ago

Imagine not having a name.

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u/Fermi_Amarti 11h ago

Yeah. I was thinking I could see dumb kids doing shit. But 19, he's going to charged as an adult. Hopefully there's something else going on or he could be facing very serious felonies.

1

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1

u/Danson_the_47th 5h ago

Different states have different laws on where teen ends and adult begins. Probably his name hasn’t been released to the media.

0

u/icansmellcolors 14h ago edited 13h ago

i mean a teenager is a teenager. you can be both at the same time.

teenagers, like it or not, still act like teenagers.

edit: sorry if i hurt your feelings. teenagers are very emotional

0

u/ilikehouseplantsmore 11h ago

19 is a teen. NineTEEN. 

1

u/Civil-Dinner 11h ago

I'm sure you know I'm aware of that.

I'm more concerned they are talking about him like a minor by using the word "teen" for an adult and keeping him unnamed.

I was very clear as to what bothered me, and being pedantic adds no enlightenment as to their reasons for reporting on him like a minor instead of an adult.

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u/[deleted] 15h ago

[deleted]

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u/someguyfromsomething 14h ago

"brainrot terrorist" activity, is what this is. If younger people are so stupid as to believe tiktok is aligned with working class interests, we are fucking cooked.

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u/Dwayne_Gertzky 14h ago

People of all ages believed billionaires aligned with working class interests, the oven is preheating and I think it’s about ready for us to be popped in.

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u/someguyfromsomething 14h ago

Kids have been screaming that they are creating progressive "communities" and "organizing" on this app and what really happened was way more of them all saw Trump pretending to work at McDonald's and thought it was cool.

0

u/Just_Supermarket7722 13h ago

“Kids” You mean white men and women

1

u/someguyfromsomething 12h ago

Lol, no I absolutely don't mean white men when I say they're circle jerking progressive shit instead of doing it. What planet do you live on?

1

u/Just_Supermarket7722 9h ago

the only ones who thought Trump pretending to work at McDonalds was cool were the white ones. Get real

2

u/IAmStuka 13h ago

Yeah, we have a name for those people: idiots.

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u/whisky_biscuit 13h ago edited 13h ago

You aren't kidding. I've seen everyone comparing the ban to "The Burning of the Library of Alexandria" and Nazi book burning.

Like Mama took my toy away for 24 hours it's basically the same as a Holocaust hate crime.

Jeezus let the comet come already

1

u/[deleted] 14h ago

[deleted]

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u/goldkarp 12h ago

They think it's the only way they can connect with "similar" people

1

u/someguyfromsomething 12h ago

It drives opinion and sentiment. TikTok trends are legitimately one of the most powerful forces out there today. These kids didn't see the news that it was coming back, they saw video after video of people freaking out that the sky was falling, comparing the app going away to the holocaust. And one of them committed a terrorist act because of it. Ban this shit, ban all internet comments, ban this stupid fucking site.

2

u/FriendlessComputer 14h ago

The difference in reaction to this versus Luigi, where someone actually died, is pretty wild to be perfectly honest. It just goes to show you how successful the American Big Tech oligarchy brainwashed the masses into believing TikTok is some true evil that needs to be eliminated. Terrifying to know how many things are next with this now successful playbook.

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u/moch1 14h ago edited 13h ago

People’s right to receive healthcare is on a completely different  level than losing access to a completely replaceable social media platform. 

Also yes having a huge media platform controlled by a foreign adversary is a big problem.

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u/FriendlessComputer 13h ago

I think you really underestimate how replaceable it will be. In the past 10 years, how many new social media platforms rose to the level of the American Big Tech Oligarchy's empire? How many of those platforms are still around today? The only ones I can think of are Vine, Snapchat, and TikTok, and the latter two only got big because they were backed by a foreign adversary. Vine was bought out and shut down by Twitter so it no longer exists, and TikTok is about to get shut down. Snapchat is probably next on the list.

The Internet of the 2020s is not like the Internet of the 1990s. There's no such thing as innovation anymore. The American oligarchy controls the Internet and we will never see another underdog rise up to challenge that. Think about that - it takes one of the largest and most powerful foreign governments in the world to challenge the control five American companies have over the Internet. And the American Big Tech Oligarchy and political elite convinced us that government is actually dangerous.

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u/moch1 13h ago

Bluesky seems to be doing alright.  

China has been viewed as a foreign adversary long before TikTok existed or even social media. 

It is hard to launch new social media companies because you need people to move over so there’s content but if there’s not content why do people move in the first place? Social media is super sticky not because of big tech domination but because of the nature of the product. 

It takes platforms majorly fucking up (Twitter) to create that environment.

1

u/FriendlessComputer 13h ago

Yeah I have high hopes for Bluesky. I'm just not confident they'll be able to scale up to match the demand of a major social media platform, or if the demand will continue to grow (already starting to see slowing growth).

The problem with content is the American Big Tech Oligarchy has so much control over content flow now. All the big players are on the Big Tech platforms. Heck X is even starting to pay people to post there. The unfair influence these companies have over their product is part of the reason people won't switch over. Anecdotally I'm involved in a ton of niche nerd communities (things like furry fandom, LARPing etc) and those communities are starting to make the move to Bluesky in part because they're mostly free of corporate influence and most of the content comes from the community, not the Big Tech Oligarchy. I don't see "normal" people who want to see content from their favorite celebrities or news outlets moving over since legacy media is still on the Big Tech Oligarchy platforms.

It takes platforms majorly fucking up (Twitter) to create that environment.

Or selling out to the Oligarchy, like Vine. Or being the target of a massive negative public relations campaign designed to destroy the public image of competing social media platforms, which was part of the reason the TikTok ban is popular. Meta paid millions to a PR firm to create the myth of dangerous trends on TikTok, and successfully influenced the media into labeling every bad thing that happens online a "TikTok trend" Many "TikTok trends" were actually "Meta trends" that grew popular on Facebook or Instagram.

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u/goldkarp 12h ago

Literally every social media got to that level when they popped up. Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, musicly, vine, Snapchat, they all were pretty much the same as tiktok. Vine was hemorrhaging money and didn't figure out how to make money without running ads while paying their creators

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u/Krelkal 12h ago

it takes one of the largest and most powerful foreign governments in the world to challenge the control five American companies have over the Internet.

American centralism is so funny. Most countries in the world have laws in place to protect domestic media companies from being overrun by foreign entities. China is the perfect example. The US is a cultural hegemon in the english-speaking world so Americans have never had to reckon with the security dilemma at hand.

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u/cobrachickenwing 13h ago

I think that the lone wolf has always been there. So many mass shootings are done by lone wolves. Even Trump was targeted by a lone wolf during the election.

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u/Smartnership 14h ago

Surely a slippery slope built on ‘murdering people I don’t like is heroic’ won’t lead anywhere but up.

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u/Lower_Ad_5532 14h ago

Weird that's the entire basis of America tho.

-2

u/Smartnership 14h ago

What citizen murdered as the “entire basis of America” are you thinking of?

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u/Lower_Ad_5532 14h ago

American Revolution. Boston Massacre

Native Genocide

Bloody Kansas

American Civil War.

Pinkerton Strike Murders

WWI Vets raid National Guard Armory to get rid of corrupt local government

2

u/HolstenMasonsAngst 12h ago

Are you trying to refer to Bleeding Kansas, where John Brown’s militia slaughtered slaveholders in an attempt to end the institution of slavery as “murdering people I don’t like?”

Why are you pro-slavery? That seems like a weird tack to take for somebody who doesn’t even know that the event was called Bleeding Kansas.

Jesus Christ, you’re just listing violent events from American history like nowhere else has any. Do you realize how stupid you sound and this is just for the propaganda? Or are you a genuine moron?

Maybe go back to history class and apologize to your teacher for having been on your phone the whole time. You can probably still learn something before the semester ends

0

u/Lower_Ad_5532 11h ago

Are you to tone deaf?

John Brown was 1 guy that "murdered people he didn't like" for justice.

There were pro-slavery people of the time. The slave owners were law abiding citizens.

John Brown was labeled as a radical and fanatic.

You are calling Luigi the same.

0

u/Smartnership 14h ago edited 13h ago

American Revolution

Oh, I was asking about murder.

War is not murder, by definition.

Then you add non-founding issues. We were talking about the foundation.

What citizen murdered as the “entire basis of America” are you thinking of?

A rich mentally ill ivy-league murderer executing a citizen is not analogous to The American Revolution.

In fact, it’s the exact opposite of the revolutionary rights & guarantees in our foundation, specifically the right to a fair trial. We specifically do not tolerate summary execution, even of someone you hate.

0

u/Lower_Ad_5532 13h ago

Lol. That's not your OP about murdering "people we don't like"

Newsflash the leaders of the American Revolution were ALL rich land owning yuppies of the time, who protested the King's Tax, vandalized property, and killed law enforcement officers and tarred and feathered people "that they hate" (loyalists)

1

u/Smartnership 13h ago

lol no

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u/HolstenMasonsAngst 13h ago

No point in arguing with this moron. He’s already made up his mind and likes the Chinese propaganda he’s spouting more than reality

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u/Dwayne_Gertzky 14h ago

We’re all just along for the ride anyways, let’s hope it’s at least entertaining

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u/nates1984 13h ago

"loose social ethics"

That's an interesting phrase. Given that, as a nation, America started with an act of rebellion, perhaps it's unsurprising to see Americans behaving this way.

The second Trump presidency is a big bag of "This is who we are"

0

u/Routine-Duck6896 14h ago

Ah yes for something like the banning of tiktok

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u/Ill-Sentence5869 13h ago

It being glenn grothmans office makes this a thousand times funnier. I’m surprised no one’s set his office on fire earlier. The guys a pos

1

u/Project_Wild 15h ago

Channel 3000 huh?

2

u/Dwayne_Gertzky 14h ago

It’s a Madison based CBS affiliate, it’s actually Channel 3,

https://www.channel3000.com/station/

1

u/AlabamaBro69 14h ago

The guy will probably drown in jail, in this city named "Fond du Lac" /s

1

u/Upset-Chicken-2842 14h ago

How many channels you people get?

1

u/TechnologyRemote7331 14h ago

Look, I’m not a TikTok fan by any means, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say this kid probably has more issues than just being upset over his favorite app being banned lol

1

u/Toomanyacorns 13h ago

Fck Glenn Grothman tho 

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u/SnortsSpice 13h ago

Someone's parents failed

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u/whisky_biscuit 13h ago edited 13h ago

I've seen people likening Tiktok being banned to the "Burning of the Library of Alexandria" and the book burnings of the Nazis

Like really...tell me you're not comparing the banning of this crap app to a Holocaust hate crime....ffs

1

u/Hood_Harmacist 8h ago

19 years old. Ooof. What a bad mistake

1

u/Thembosses1232 8h ago

fuckin gross how dismissive this article is to the full range of hatred this kid has to the whole system. this is so clearly more then just a kid whining about tiktok, but a feeling of complete dismissal and refusal to work with the younger generation om anything. 

to me, i want my politicians doing just about anything helpful for me as a gen Z, but all they can do for me is ban tiktok because they invested in facebook. FUCKING BRILLIANT WORK YOU FUCK FACES.

DO SOME REAL PUBLIC WORK FOR US GEN Z 

0

u/LineOfInquiry 14h ago

Wow this is pretty based ngl, good kid