A homeless man was charged Wednesday with setting fire to the enormous All-American Christmas Tree outside Fox News headquarters in New York City.
Craig Tamanaha, 49, was expected to appear in court Wednesday on charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, arson, criminal nuisance, criminal trespass, criminal tampering, endangering others and disorderly conduct, according to the New York Police Department.
The 50-foot tree, described as the tallest on the Avenue of the Americas, went up in flames shortly after midnight in Fox Square at Sixth Avenue and 48th Street in Midtown Manhattan.
The fire was extinguished by city firefighters and no injuries were reported, although “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade said the building’s first floor was engulfed in smoke.
The network’s security team spotted a man climbing the tree not long after midnight, according to Fox News.
“It looks like this guy, just psycho, runs into this tree with papers and lit the tree on fire in a matter of minutes,” said Mr. Kilmeade. “One of our guys here tackled him to the ground. Word is the guy looked obviously mentally unstable. When they finally got a hold of him, cops were here in seconds, fire department was here right away.”
Fox News Christmas tree set on fire in Midtown Manhattan, New York City - ABC7 New York - https://t.co/LzIR8DYypb
— Marc Morano (@ClimateDepot) December 8, 2021
The tree, which was lit up in a ceremony Sunday night, was decorated with 10,000 red, white and blue glass ornaments and 100,000 lights. The display took more than 21 hours to assemble.
“Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy declared Wednesday that the network would rebuild the tree, now burned to its skeleton, “better than ever.”
“It is a symbol. And here we are on Avenue of the Americas, the tallest tree on Avenue of the Americas, and some guy wanted to burn it down, and he did,” said Mr. Doocy. “But listen, if you’ve been watching Fox for the last 25 years, you know that one guy with a lighter is not going to stop us. We are going to rebuild that tree, we are going to have a new one out there as soon as possible.”
The suspect has three prior arrests, two for drug possession and one for public intoxication. His last known address was in Brooklyn, ABC7 reported.
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott thanked the city’s police and fire departments and Fox’s security team for their quick response and said the company has already begun work on bringing in another Christmas tree.
“This has become a wonderful new tradition at FOX Square over the last three years,” Ms. Scott said in an internal memo. “We will not let this deliberate and brazen act of cowardice deter us. We are in the process of rebuilding and installing a new tree as a message that there can be peace, light and joy even during a dark moment like this.”
She said details about a lighting ceremony for the new tree would be released soon.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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