Monday, August 31, 2026 - A man who set himself on fire in the lobby of an office building that houses Google has been arrested on arson charges, police have said.
John Butch, 63, from Brooklyn in New York, USA, allegedly
used a “lighter accelerant” to ignite himself at around 3pm on Friday, August
28, inside the lobby of 315 Hudson Street, near Vandam Street in Lower
Manhattan.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) said he was
arrested for the act.
He has now reportedly been charged with arson, criminal
mischief, and reckless endangerment.
Surveillance footage showed Butch entering the building’s
lobby at about 2pm, leaving, then returning roughly an hour later, according to
reports.
At around 2.58pm, investigators say he used fluid kept in
his backpack to set himself alight, with both his body and bag becoming
engulfed in flames.
The incident sparked panic in the lobby, but building
security guards rushed in with fire extinguishers and put out the blaze before
the FDNY and NYPD arrived.
Butch survived and was taken by EMS to the
NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center burn unit. He remains in
hospital in stable condition.
Police reportedly said no staff or bystanders were
injured.
During a search of his personal items, investigators
recovered a collapsible tactical baton from inside his charred bag.
Questions remain over whether Google was the intended
target. The 10-storey building is a shared space.
While Google is the biggest tenant, it also houses the
NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, the New York Society for the Deaf and
ground-floor retail shops.
0 Comments