{"id":332678,"date":"2026-08-29T15:06:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T15:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/332678\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T15:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T15:06:25","slug":"who-is-john-butch-man-faces-arson-charges-after-setting-himself-on-fire-at-google-office-building-in-lower-manhattan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/332678\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is John Butch? Man faces arson charges after setting himself on fire at Google office building in lower Manhattan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The man who self-immolated within a Lower Manhattan office building has been taken into custody for arson, according to the NYPD <\/a>on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"AA 63-year-old man, John Butch, was arrested for arson after he self-immolated in a lobby shared by Google in Manhattan. (Unsplash)<\/p>\n

John Butch, 63, reportedly ignited himself using a \u201clighter accelerant\u201d in the lobby of a building that accommodates Google on Hudson Street close to Vandam Street at approximately 3 p.m. on Friday, law enforcement stated.<\/p>\n

Charges against John Butch<\/p>\n

He faces charges of criminal mischief, arson, and reckless endangerment, as per the police.<\/p>\n

Following the alleged self-immolation of Butch within the premises, which also accommodates the NYPD\u2019s Internal Affairs Bureau, several people dialed 911, prompting first responders to transport him to Weill Cornell Medical Center, according to officials.<\/p>\n

Also Read: Who is Pamalla Rodriguez? Famous Dex’s ex-girlfriend speaks out after his arrest for domestic battery; GoFundMe launched<\/a><\/p>\n

How is John Butch’s condition?<\/p>\n

He is undergoing treatment for burns at that location and has been reported to be in stable condition, according to the police.<\/p>\n

Authorities have verified that Butch is not an employee of the NYPD<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Google occupies a total area of 410,556 square feet within the building, as reported by The Commercial Observer in 2024.<\/p>\n

Here’s what Google has said<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Google <\/a>stated on Friday, \u201cWe are aware of an incident that occurred today in the lobby at 315 Hudson, a building we share with other tenant.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the individual appeared to be seeking access to another tenant\u2019s space in the building, we remain in close contact with local authorities. We are grateful to first responders.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The man who self-immolated within a Lower Manhattan office building has been taken into custody for arson, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[3094,4685,359,75,84,83,9,24,63,103,109434,125144],"class_list":["post-332678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-arson","tag-google","tag-lower-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-self-immolation","tag-who-is-john-butch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}