A 49-year-old man, Craig Tamanaha, a name used by Hindus and Muslims, has been taken into custody after a large Christmas tree outside the Fox News building in Manhattan appeared to have been set on fire overnight in what the network branded as a “malicious” attack.
The media is reporting that this was not politically motivated.
Craig climbed up the tree and set it on fire
A New York City Police Department spokesperson told NBC News on Wednesday that officers had arrested Craig Tamanaha, who has no known address, in connection with the incident.
He now faces a string of charges including criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, arson, criminal nuisance endangering others, criminal trespass, criminal tampering, and disorderly conduct.
In a statement earlier on Wednesday, the NYPD said Fox News security members had spotted a man climbing the Christmas tree outside the News Corp. building in midtown Manhattan at around 12:15 a.m.
Watch:
🚨#BREAKING: Fox News Christmas tree has caught fire outside their HQ on the Avenue of the Americas
📌 #Manhattan l #Newyork
Shannon Bream announces on Fox News Night that Fox News’s Christmas tree has caught fire outside their HQ on the Avenue of the Americas. pic.twitter.com/FURa4Vo20W
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) December 8, 2021
Merry Christmas to you too, Craig!
The NYPD caught Craig as he ran off
There were no injuries and the NYFD did a great job of putting it out quickly.
In an internal memo, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott told colleagues that the broadcaster’s “All-American Christmas tree outside our building on FOX Square was set on fire in a malicious arson attack.”
Scott said the 50-foot tree had just been lit on Sunday night.
She said FOX News would “not let this deliberate and brazen act of cowardice deter us, adding that work was underway to rebuild and install a new tree “as a message that there can be peace, light, and joy even during a dark moment like this.”
Watch:
#FoxNews Christmas tree on fire pic.twitter.com/t2gnCgxp7y
— Matthew Sturiano (@Msturiano) December 8, 2021
H/T Bev
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