As they say in sitcoms, wow - that escalated quickly.
So far, Jonathan Rinderknecht, the suspect accused of starting what became the Palisades Fire, now in Orlando and awaiting extradition to California, is only charged with property destruction by means of fire at the moment.
When I got the post up yesterday, right after the announcement that they'd arrested the 29-year-old former Uber driver, there wasn't a lot of info on him available. What they had released was pretty creepy. He'd deliberately set the fire after driving up to a trailhead in the Palisades after dropping of his last fares. The feds found AI artwork of burning a burning city on his phone, along with listening to some kind of rap song about setting fires, and Kinderknecht had filmed the firefighters who arrived to put out the blaze, even going so far as to offer his help if they needed it.
Just a really strange bird on his own. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli filled out more of the detective work last night on Laura Ingraham's show.
The ATF investigators determined the Palisades Fire had actually been a reignition of the fire Rinderknecht set six days earlier. That original fire had never been completely extinguished, and smouldered underground in the dense root structure until bursting back to the surface during the extreme conditions the next week. It only had 80 mph winds working as a bellows for it.
The detective work to pin Rinderknecht to the scene was outstanding as well. Because of Rinderknecht's fruitless intial 911 calls, they were able to geo locate and isolate him, and he was the only person in the area at the time.
🚨Bill Essayli REVEALS how the Palisades arsonist was caught:
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) October 9, 2025
“This was the incredible work of the ATF and our prosecutors. We geolocated the suspect to the exact origin of the fire — no one else was there. Every other cause has been eliminated.” pic.twitter.com/tUo4NN4xj8
Now facing the start of his legal battles, a federal judge in Orlando has already denied bail for the suspect, and personal information is emerging about Rinderknecht's state of mind and more about his background. Interestingly, he holds dual French-American citizenship.
...Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent more than an hour Thursday morning on arguments that emphasized Rinderknecht’s precarious mental state, the evidence that connects him to the fire, and threats he allegedly made against family members. Afterward, Magistrate Judge Nathan Hill said that while there is no “clear and convincing” evidence that Rinderknecht would harm anyone, there is enough evidence to keep him in custody.
“When I look at that altogether, I find there is a preponderance of evidence that there are no conditions that will ensure your presence at future hearings,” Hill said.
...In court, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Lyons described Rinderknecht as a loner with “a despondent view of the world” living paycheck to paycheck as a driver for Uber and DoorDash.
'Socially isolated' and unlucky in love.
...“He struggled socially without many friends,” and often spent time on ChatGPT, Lyons said. According to an affidavit, while on the phone with 911 to report the fire, Rinderknecht allegedly typed into ChatGPT, “Are you at fault if a fire is lift (sic) because of your cigarettes?”
Months prior, he asked ChatGPT to come up with a dystopian image of a burning city and, in November, allegedly typed into ChatGPT that he “literally burnt the Bible that I had. It felt amazing. I felt so liberated.”
...Around the time of the fire, he was falling out with past friends and had broken up with his girlfriend, prosecutors said. They said he unsuccessfully tried to contact the girlfriend before lighting the fire that died out, then flared a week later turned into an inferno that lasted nearly a month. He then left California for Florida by car, where he has been living for five months in Melbourne.
This is an important point to remember - he's only been living in Melbourne, Florida, for the past five months, well after the fire and the scrutiny began.
He was staying with family, but those few months had been chaotic.
...Rinderknecht, Lyons noted further, was visited by West Melbourne police after two incidents involving his sister and brother-in-law, who had allowed him to stay with them and their two children. On Sept. 19, he threatened to “burn the house down” after an argument with the couple. Days later, police were called again after they discovered he had an unloaded gun, which he obtained legally but allegedly threatened to use against his brother-in-law “in self-defense,” ATF Special Agent Thomas Harrison said from the witness stand.
He had already begun seeing a psychiatrist and had been prescribed medication before his arrest for the fire.
Judge Nathan Hill dismissed Rinderknect's public defender's arguments that the evidence was 'circumstantial,' and that his treatment and medication were all he needed to be able to stay at his sister and brother-in-law's home (no word whether that option had been okayed by the sister and brother-in-law)(I'd sure be a 'Sorry, bro, but negative').
Besides the obvious questions of mental stability, the judge has been informed by prosecutors that there were quite possibly more serious charges in the works.
...More importantly, Hill was adamant about the severity of the charge he currently faces as well as others to come. Prosecutors told the judge that those additional charges could lead to them seeking the death penalty.
“It’s extraordinarily serious, and I agree with Ms. Lyons that they higher the severity of the offense, the greater the risk of fleeing,” Hill said. “… What I don’t want to do is release you and setting you up to fail.”
There is another hearing set for the 17th.
His mental state would make death penalty charges a serious challenge in a cut-and-dry capital murder case. This is going to be a stretch, but you know there are plenty of people who would string him up for free right now.
If Rinderknecht is guilty, they have to max out whatever they can get for the catastrophic harm.
Back on the West Coast, Gavin Newsom and Co. are going through a tremendous 'cope' spasm right now, and shamelessly deflecting blame as only they can.
For one thing, this arrest has blown their climate change excuse for the fire out of the water. Crushed it like a bug.
Someone do a welfare check on Jennifer Rubin.
— Chris Martz (@ChrisMartzWX) October 9, 2025
Back in January, she wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post claiming that the Pacific Palisades fire in L.A. was “another undeniable sign of the dangers of climate change.”
Today, the Post reports the blaze was actually caused by… pic.twitter.com/e1Vwm1Xqh9
The real deflection is coming from Newsom making sure Rinderknecht, who moved to Melbourne five months ago after living in California for years, is known as a 'FLORIDA RESIDENT.'
Gavin, you’re saying "Florida resident" in a weak attempt to blame a Republican state when in fact this guy lived in CA, was a Biden-Harris campaign donor in 2020 and moved to Florida after the palisades fire. Oh yeah and didn’t you blame the fire on climate change? Stop lying. https://t.co/vGFCqNnBYK pic.twitter.com/OEuF2G9VHV
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 9, 2025
Even the first paragraph of this Orange County Register article gives the game away.
Prosecutors said Thursday that the Central Florida man accused of igniting a deadly fire in Los Angeles could face the death penalty as a federal judge in Orlando ruled he will remain jailed ahead of trial.
For now, Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old Melbourne resident, is accused only of property destruction by means of fire for setting the Pacific Palisades blaze that killed 12 people and destroyed dozens of homes across thousands of acres of land. That crime carries up to 20 years in federal prison.
See? The nutcase hater came from FLORIDA to set the fire!
Also today, which may be why Newsom is in such a hurry to Florida Man the whole situation: the City of Los Angeles, along with their Fire Department and that wonderful, competent mayor of theirs, released the long-awaited 'after-action report' on the fire.
HOOOO, BOY
It’s starting to feel like everything Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass said about the Palisades Fire preparation, battling, recovery, and rebuilding was a gigantic lie. pic.twitter.com/umAtNwekHU
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) October 9, 2025
It has some...um...issues.
City officials and Newsom are already being crucified online for the pathetically blatant CYA effort.
🔥🤬🔥 WTF?!? @MayorOfLA @KarenBassLA & @LAFD finally released their “After Action Report” for Palisades Fire & it’s more outlandish than expected.
— Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD (@houmanhemmati) October 9, 2025
“Water Supply Limitations: Some areas lacked access to traditional hydrants, requiring alternative sourcing.”
WHAT?! Hydrants… pic.twitter.com/rCv7YTdreu
...“Water Supply Limitations: Some areas lacked access to traditional hydrants, requiring alternative sourcing.”
WHAT?! Hydrants were fine. They had NO WATER!!!! This had nothing to do with the lack of access to what you call traditional hydrants. It was the fact that these hydrants, which were all over the place, lacked any water. Who gives a damn about whether you have a hydrant if there isn’t water to supply the hoses with something to extinguish the fire with!
This entire report is a huge load of BS that makes excuses and takes absolutely no blame. All designed to defend themselves in court from the many many lawsuits!
Yeah.
No water.
LADWP kept the Palisades reservoir empty for 9 months before the fire.
— Alexis Rivas (@alexisxrivas) October 6, 2025
Now, they're billing fire victims $10k+ to upgrade water lines for current code whole home fire sprinklers.
The irony: those sprinklers would’ve run dry anyway. pic.twitter.com/gASXHKyl3L
Who you gonna call?
FLORIDA MAN!
If we thought our job in pushing back against the Academia/media/Democrat censorship complex was over with the election, think again. This is going to be a long fight. Ed, David, John, and I are here for it.
COME AT US, BROS!
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