\n<\/p>\n
The suspect accused of starting one of the largest wildfires in Los Angeles history, fixated on Luigi Mangione weeks before starting the blaze out of resentment for the rich, according to federal prosecutors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Federal prosecutors said in a trial memorandum that 30-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht demonstrated an obsession with Mangione in the days before he started the Lachman and Palisades Fires on January 1, 2025. Mangione has developed a cult following among the Left after he was arrested for gunning down Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOn January 24, 2025, when investigators asked defendant why someone might commit arson in the Pacific Palisades, he responded that it would be out of resentment of the rich enjoying their money as \u2018we\u2019re basically being enslaved by them\u2019 and compared such an act of \u2018desperation\u2019 to the murder for which Mangione was charged,\u201d the memo said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The memo added that Uber passengers who rode with Rinderknecht on December 31 and January 1 recounted him being \u201cangry, intense, driving erratically, and ranting about being \u2018pissed off at the world\u2019 and Luigi Mangione, capitalism, and vigilantism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Prosecutors described Rinderknecht becoming \u201cfixated\u201d on Mangione in the weeks leading up to the fires, saying his internet search history revealed queries like \u201cfree Luigi Mangione,\u201d \u201clets take down all the billionaires,\u201d and \u201creddit lets kill all the billionaires.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Rinderknecht has been charged with destroying property by fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and setting timber afire. Facing over forty years in prison, he has pleaded not guilty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The memo said that Rinderknecht had an obsession with fire and had previously burned a Bible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA few months before the fire, defendant asked ChatGPT \u2014 an AI system that he used as a confidant and diary \u2014 to generate and then modify images of a \u2018burning forest\u2019 next to \u2018a bunch of people running away,\u2019\u201d prosecutors said. \u201cDefendant also confided to ChatGPT that he had burned a bible and that it felt \u2018liberating.\u2019 Later, after he knew he was under investigation for the fire, defendant threatened to burn down his sister\u2019s house.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Mangione is currently facing charges related to the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. While a judge dismissed federal murder charges against Mangione, he still faces second-degree New York murder charges. In the wake of Mangione\u2019s arrest, leftist activists have called for his release, claiming he was targeting an exploitative corporation. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n