Los Angeles Palisades Fire Suspect Idolized Luigi Mangione, Prosecutors Say

Federal prosecutors say the man accused of starting the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles had become fixated on Luigi Mangione, the man accused in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and was driven in part by resentment toward wealthy people.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing him of sparking the fire that began Jan. 1, 2025, and later reignited into the catastrophic Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in Pacific Palisades and Malibu. His trial is scheduled to begin June 8, according to The Associated Press.

In a new pretrial memo, prosecutors alleged that Rinderknecht was "angry at the world" in the hours before the initial blaze and had ranted to Uber passengers about capitalism, vigilantism and Mangione's case. Prosecutors said he was upset that he did not have New Year's Eve plans and had also been distressed over a past relationship.

The filing says Rinderknecht searched phrases including "free Luigi Mangione," "lets take down all the billionaires" and "reddit lets kill all the billionaires" in December 2024, according to Fox News, which cited the prosecutors' memo. Prosecutors wrote that he had become increasingly angry "with his life and society at large" before the fire.

The Los Angeles Times reported that prosecutors described Mangione as a kind of Robin Hood figure in Rinderknecht's thinking. When investigators asked Rinderknecht why someone might commit arson in the Palisades, he allegedly said it could be out of "resentment of the rich," accusing wealthy people of enjoying their money while others were "basically being enslaved by them."
Mangione has pleaded not guilty in the killing of Thompson, who was fatally shot in New York City in December 2024. His case became a flashpoint online, where some users praised him as a symbol of anger against the health insurance industry, even as prosecutors accused him of murder. Rinderknecht's alleged fixation on that case is now part of the government's argument about motive in the Palisades Fire case.

Prosecutors allege the Palisades disaster began with a smaller fire on New Year's Day. Authorities say that fire smoldered underground for days before reigniting under dangerous wind conditions and spreading into one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles history.

Rinderknecht's defense has denied that he started the fire and argues that he is being blamed for failures in the official response. His attorney has pointed to evidence from a firefighter's deposition that raised questions about how the initial fire scene was handled after crews believed it had been extinguished. The fire chief has ordered an independent review of the response, according to AP.
The case has already drawn scrutiny beyond the criminal allegations.