The alleged arsonist in a Lower Manhattan lobby fire was also the burn victim, with police accusing a 63-year-old man of using a “lighter accelerant” to set himself ablaze inside a building that houses Google.
John Butch was in stable condition at Weill Cornell Medical Center after the Friday afternoon fire at 315 Hudson Street, the New York Post reported.
The incident brought multiple 911 calls to the office tower, where first responders found a man in need of burn treatment and police later built an arson case around the flames.
NYPD officials identified Butch as the suspect and said the fire happened at about 3 p.m. in the lobby.
The charges filed after the fire included arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
Google is one of the building’s biggest tenants, occupying more than 410,000 square feet inside the 10-story property, according to the Post.
The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau also has an office in the building. The bureau investigates police misconduct.
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Google distanced the incident from its own workspace while confirming it happened in a common lobby area at the Hudson Street address.
“We are aware of an incident that occurred today in the lobby at 315 Hudson, a building we share with other tenants,” a Google spokesperson said. “While the individual appeared to be seeking access to another tenant’s space in the building, we remain in close contact with local authorities.”
The strange Lower Manhattan case was followed by other recent charges involving people accused of bringing chaos to landmark or government-connected spaces.
Near Capitol Hill, a California man allegedly showed up with a roughly 10-foot guillotine standing in the back of his pickup truck.
United States Capitol Police encountered the illegally parked truck near the Supreme Court building, only steps from the U.S. Capitol.
The man linked to the pickup was Philan-Tam-Duy Le, 35, of Julian, California, who had traveled across the country before officers came across the device, officials said.
Court paperwork signed by Vittone described the setup in the truck bed as a wooden platform holding an approximately 10-foot-tall wooden guillotine with what appeared to be a metal blade.
An officer asked whether the guillotine was functional, and Le allegedly answered, “Yeah, it’s the real deal man.”
The affidavit did not point to any member of Congress as a target. Le allegedly told officers he was not near the Capitol “for any specific reason” and “didn’t have issues with specific members of Congress.”
The guillotine brought a carrying-a-dangerous-weapon charge.
Capitol Police were still trying to determine why Le traveled to Washington, D.C., with the device.
“USCP investigators are going through the suspect’s background to learn more about why he came to Washington, D.C.,” officials said.
Prosecutors wanted Le kept in the D.C. Department of Corrections’s Central Cell Block near the National Mall, but the detention request failed in D.C. Superior Court.
Magistrate Judge Robert Hildum ordered Le released before his next hearing after noting what prosecutors had not accused him of doing.
“He didn’t even threaten anyone,” Hildum said at the Wednesday arraignment, according to the Washington Post.
At the World War II Memorial, orange spray paint, dish soap and a livestream became part of a federal case against Melissa Farris, 41, who later said she wanted attention for a dispute over healthcare money.
Farris told the Washington Post she believed she and friends had been cheated out of funds tied to her former electrical union job in Kentucky.
“I was robbed, and so were my friends,” Farris said. “I’m just trying to do the right thing.”
Authorities accused Farris of writing “Clean hands Dirty $” in orange spray paint inside the memorial’s Atlantic Theatre Pavilion earlier this month.
The vandalism allegation also included dish soap poured into the fountain, large orange sunglasses and a protest sign.
Farris defended the memorial stunt as a way to draw attention without dishonoring veterans.
“Veterans fought for people, not monuments or memorials, and I honor veterans by trying to keep our liberties and life and happiness here,” she said. “One thing everybody can agree on is everybody loves to hate on something. So, I made a big mess to get the nation’s attention.”
The criminal complaint included a public livestream Farris allegedly made before the memorial was defaced. On video, she described herself as “cognitively aware” and said she was trying to push her whistleblower case into court.
“I am cognitively aware and executively (sic) of the choices I am making and I am doing so to push my whistleblower case into the courtroom . . . someone has to make choices that are different and I am accountable for my actions. I am going to make these choices today and I will step foot into the courtroom and I will wait to be arrested . . . I am accountable for the things that I do and the choices that I make and our government needs to be accountable for their choices too,” Farris said.
The federal indictment against Farris came Thursday and included two felony counts, destruction of veterans’ memorials and destruction of federal property.
The Hill reported that each count carries a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison.
After her arrest, Farris was allowed out of custody under limits that required her to surrender her passport, avoid the memorial and remain within the northern Ohio and eastern Michigan area.
She is scheduled for a Thursday hearing in Washington, D.C., before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.
Farris later told the Post that her view of the capital had been naïve.
“I thought Washington is where you go to practice democracy,” she said. “It broke my heart to walk into our nation’s capital. I think that I idealized it.”
The Post reported that Farris received dozens of angry social media messages, including death threats.
“I can unite a nation quicker than anybody else, apparently, because it didn’t matter what political party they were,” Farris said. “They can still all hate me, and then I’m going to give them the truth.”
