los angeles — The man Accused of provocation The deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles was upset because he had no plans for New Year’s Eve and spoke loudly about his anger at the world before the initial fire broke out, according to court documents filed by prosecutors.
Jonathan Rinderknecht29, has He pleaded not guilty To start what became one of The most destructive forest fires In California history. The attack began on January 7, 2025, in the hillside neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Malibu, and left 12 people dead. Prosecutors say Rinderknecht started a fire on Jan. 1, burning deep into the root systems without detection before igniting again a week later.
Rinderknecht’s trial is scheduled to begin on June 8. His lawyers say he is being used as a person Scapegoat Because the Los Angeles Fire Department failed to completely extinguish the previous fire.
The broad outlines of prosecutors’ strategy — along with details about the defendant’s alleged mental state the night before the first fire started — appear in an April 29 pretrial memorandum filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Witnesses reported that Rinderknecht was driving erratically while on Uber routes around the Palisades on New Year’s Eve, prosecutors said. Passengers described him as “angry, stressed, driving erratically and yelling that he was angry at the world,” the memo said.
According to court filings, Rinderknecht ranted with passengers about the accused shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Luigi MangioneCapitalism and wokeness. In an interview with investigators on Jan. 24, when asked why someone would commit arson at the barricades, Rinderknecht replied “it would be out of resentment about rich people enjoying their money because we are basically enslaved to them,” and again referred to Mangione’s alleged crime, the documents said.
Additionally, prosecutors said Rinderknecht was distraught over his failed relationship, and was upset over failed New Year’s Eve plans.
“My client maintains his innocence as he has done from the beginning and we look forward to clearing his name at trial,” Rinderknecht’s attorney, Steve Haney, said in an email on Sunday. “The motive given that my client started the fire on New York Eve because he did not have an appointment speaks for itself.”
Haney held a press conference in March to call for Rinderknecht’s release from prison in light of evidence he said showed he was not responsible for the fire. Hani pointed out: deposition A firefighter testified that he noticed the ground still burning from the January 2 fire and alerted supervisors to the presence of hot spots. This testimony was collected as part of a lawsuit filed by fire victims against the city.
A battalion commander testified that he walked the perimeter of the burn area four times throughout the day and made sure all hot spots were out.
Fire Chief Jaime Moore, who was appointed in October, said he was concerned about discrepancies in firefighter certification and commissioned an independent report on how the Jan. 1 fire was handled.
Haney said this evidence was not available to the defense when Rinderknecht was charged.