Report: Accused Palisades Fire arsonist was ‘fixated’ on Luigi Mangione
OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
2:30 PM – Tuesday, May 5, 2026
The man accused of starting a blaze that led to the devastating Palisades fire was reportedly “fixated” on Luigi Mangione, the accused assassin of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, according to prosecutors.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 30-year-old Uber driver, had repeatedly searched the terms, “free Luigi Mangione,” “lets take down all the billionaires,” and “reddit lets kill all the billionaires,” online, court documents revealed.
“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 noted in a trial memorandum.
Asked by investigators why someone would start a fire, Rinderknecht allegedly responded that it would be out of resentment of the rich enjoying their money as “we’re basically being enslaved by them,” the memo outlined.
His lawyer, Steven Hanley, argued that federal prosecutors were offering “wild motives and conspiracy theories,” which lacked concrete evidence.
“If fascination with Luigi Mangione is evidence of arson, the U.S. attorney’s office is going to need a much bigger courtroom — because they’ll have to indict half the country,” Hanley wrote in an email.
Rinderknecht was arrested in October. At the time, authorities said that he had also repeatedly listened to a French rap song in the days leading to the incident, which had a corresponding music video that showed things being set on fire.
The suspected arsonist was charged in a federal indictment with destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and his case was assigned to Los Angeles, California, U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang.
Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty to all counts. His lawyers maintain that the fire was started by fireworks.
The Palisades fire of January 2025 is regarded as the state’s most expensive wildfire. It racked up at least $250 billion in damages, burning up more than 23,000 acres of land and destroying nearly 7,000 structures, including many single-family homes.
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