The man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades Fire allegedly latched onto anti-wealth rage and left-wing slogans in the days leading up to the blaze, telling at least one person it would make sense to torch the area out of resentment toward rich people, according to prosecutors.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, is charged in federal court with arson counts tied to the inferno that tore through Pacific Palisades in early 2025. Prosecutors say his online activity and statements point to an ideological motive that centered on hostility toward “billionaires” and admiration for Luigi Mangione.
Court documents say Rinderknecht became “fixated” on Mangione, who prosecutors described as the accused shooter in a high-profile health care CEO killing. Investigators allege Rinderknecht repeatedly searched phrases including “free Luigi Mangione” and “lets take down all the billionaires.”
Prosecutors also say the defendant carried that obsession into his day job as an Uber driver, venting to passengers in the hours and days before the fire.
It’s now been revealed that Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man who ignited the Palisades fire that killed 12 people and burned down 7,000 homes, is a die-hard leftist fixated on “restorative justice” and Luigi Mangione.
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“Many of defendant’s Uber passengers on December 31, 2024 and January 1, 2025, described defendant as angry, intense, driving erratically, and ranting about being ‘pissed off at the world’ and Luigi Mangione, capitalism, and vigilantism,” prosecutors wrote in a trial memorandum.
When asked why someone would set such a fire, Rinderknecht allegedly offered what prosecutors say was a revealing answer.
According to the memo, he said it “would be out of resentment of the rich enjoying their money as ‘we’re basically being enslaved by them’ and compared such an act of ‘desperation’ to the murder for which Mangione was charged.”
The Palisades Fire leveled thousands of homes and businesses and killed 12 people, prosecutors said. They allege the destruction caused roughly $150 billion in damage.
Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty. He has been held without bail since his arrest in October, according to court records..
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