Police have arrested and charged Jonathan Rinderknecht, a Biden/Harris supporter, for “maliciously starting” the devastating Palisades, California, fire back in January.
Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced the arrest of the 29-year-old during a press conference, Wednesday.
Rinderknecht, who also goes by John Rinder, allegedly started the fire in the Pacific Palisades in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, and then watched it turn into one of the most destructive blazes in Los Angeles history, causing death and widespread destruction.
According to the Complaint, the suspect asked Chat GPT “Are you at fault if a fire is lift [sic] because of your cigarettes” shortly after the fire broke out. Cell phone data placed him at the scene when the fire started.
Investigators collected evidence from his digital devices, including an image he allegedly generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city.
The Complaint states that he had dropped off two separate Uber rider in the Palisades on New Year’s Eve, and surveillance video shows him then driving up to and parking at the Skull Rock trailhead.
At approximately 11:28 p.m., Rinderknecht allegedly used his iPhone to access YouTube and listen to the French song, “UnZder, Un The,” by the French artist Josman. According to the Complaint, the theme of the song is “despair and bitterness” and shows Josman “lighting things on fire.”
Google records indicate that the suspected firebug listened to the same song nine times in the previous four days.
Rinderknecht told his interviewer that he grew up in France and was fluent in French.
He then allegedly walked up the trail to an area known as the “Hidden Budha,” where cameras began to detect the start of what would later turn into the Palisades Fire. The Complaint states that Rinderknecht then repeatedly tried to call 911, with his phone data placing him 30 feet away from the fire’s ignition.
He then allegedly drove away from the fire as fire engines passed by him as they raced to put it out. Later on, he offered to help firefighters put out the flames, which they describe as “unusual behavior.”
The investigative team was able to rule out fireworks, power lines, refraction of sunlight on glass, and lightning as the source of ignition, and concluded that the cause of the blaze was “an intentional ignition of fire in an area or under circumstances where or when there should not be a fire.”
“The cause of the fire was determined to be the introduction of an open flame (likely a lighter) to a combustible material such as vegetation or paper,” the Complaint states.
The feds said they were confident the suspect was the only person in the area at the time of the fire’s ignition, and that the suspect admitted to bringing a lighter up on the trail with him.
Rinderknecht donated $2 to Democrat PAC ActBlue on two separate occasions just days apart in the fall of 2020: $1 on Sept. 4 and another dollar on Sept. 11, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.
The suspect was registered to vote in Florida, but never declared a political party, the New York Post reported.
A now deleted Facebook account belonging a “John Rinder,” included a link to a September 2020 Associated Press article titled, “Trump Won’t Commit to a Peaceful Transfer of Power if He Loses.”
The Facebook page also featured a photo of a massive blaze engulfing homes in a mountain town.
“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,” Essayli stated.
Rinderknecht’s initial appearance was scheduled for Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. EDT in U.S. District Court in Orlando.