The suspect accused of starting the Palisades Fire earlier this year in Los Angeles, California, was arrested on Wednesday and identified as a 29-year-old with a history of anti-Trump and climate change posts on social media.
In a Wednesday statement on X, formerly Twitter, Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced that 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht had been arrested on a criminal complaint that charged him with “maliciously starting what became the Palisades Fire in January.”
“The complaint alleges that Rinderknecht started a fire in Pacific Palisades on New Year’s Day — a blaze that eventually turned into one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history, causing death and widespread destruction,” Essayli stated. “Among the evidence that was collected from his digital devices was an image he generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city.”
“While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy,” the acting U.S. attorney added.
Essayli also shared a picture of the 29-year-old suspect alongside a picture of a burning city generated by artificial intelligence.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California confirmed that court documents accuse Rinderknecht of “maliciously” starting the Lachman Fire, which eventually became the Palisades Fire,, at Temescal Ridge Trail, which is located above Pacific Palisades. on January 1. The New York Post reported that the Palisades Fire killed 12 people, destroyed more than 7,000 homes and businesses, burned almost 24,000 acres of land, and caused roughly $150 billion in damages.
Court documents claimed that the 29-year-old suspect started the fire, reported the fire to local authorities, and later returned to the site of the fire and watched the firefighters trying to suppress the fire.
READ MORE: Video/Pics: Manhunt underway for arsonist who started 4 fires
The New York Post reported that Rinderknecht repeatedly shared posts on Facebook that mocked President Donald Trump and his supporters, as well as articles that promoted climate change theories. The outlet noted that one of the 29-year-old suspect’s posts featured a ProPublica article titled, “Climate Change Will Fore a New American Migration.”
In other posts obtained by The New York Post, Rinderknecht shared pictures of Trump supporters appearing to cry after the 2020 election, a link to a fundraiser page for former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, and headlines of articles about climate change. One article shared by Rinderknecht read, “Senator Kamala Harris Says Meat is Destroying the Planet.”
