After months of extensive investigation, federal authorities announced Wednesday that they had made an arrest in connection with the Palisades Fire, one of the deadly fires that devastated Los Angeles in January.
Authorities said Jonathan Rinderknecht started a smaller fire on New Year’s Day, which erupted days later into an inferno that leveled much of Pacific Palisades, killing 12 people.
Here’s what we know.
Who is Jonathan Rinderknecht?
Mr. Rinderknecht, 29, was driving for Uber and living in Pacific Palisades, not far from a popular hiking area along Temescal Ridge, when a fire broke out on Jan. 1, according to an affidavit supporting a federal complaint.
Federal investigators said they determined that Mr. Rinderknecht dropped off passengers in the area and then started the fire on January 1. They discovered he was the only person in the trail area at the time, according to cellphone and camera data they reviewed.
Investigators said they also found evidence that Mr. Rinderknecht had a fascination with fire and destruction, citing his online history, including ChatGPT prompts.
Investigators highlighted Mr. Rinderknecht’s affinity for a French rap song, “Un Zder, Un Thé” by the artist Josman, which describes despair and unease. Mr. Rinderknecht, who later told investigators that he grew up in France and spoke French fluently, listened to the song nine times in the four days before the Jan. 1 fire. He had also watched the music video for the song, which shows the artist lighting objects on fire.
Authorities said he moved to Melbourne, Florida, sometime after the fire. According to Uber, he no longer drives for the company and has been banned from the app. Mr. Rinderknecht also drove for Door Dash, according to public records.
His Florida attorney, Aziza Hawthorne, an assistant federal defender, did not respond to requests for comment.
What was he accused of?
Prosecutors accused Mr. Rinderknecht of “maliciously” starting a fire that damaged and destroyed federal property. The New Year’s Eve fire he allegedly started, known as the Lachman Fire, burned federal lands in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, as well as lands owned by the state and a conservation group, both of which receive federal funding.
“The recklessness of one person caused one of the worst fires Los Angeles has ever seen,” said Bill Essayli, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Los Angeles area.
If convicted, Mr. Rinderknecht faces up to 20 years in prison.
Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a news conference Wednesday that they reviewed more than 13,000 pieces of evidence and more than 1 million phone records as part of their investigation.
They said they determined that Mr. Rinderknecht was driving nearby in the Pacific Palisades on New Year’s Eve. He then walked to the area where a smaller fire broke out just after midnight on January 1. Federal prosecutors said he started that fire with an open flame, using a lighter.
Mr. Rinderknecht attempted to call 911 several times before finally succeeding, according to the affidavit. They said he took video at the trailhead and offered to help firefighters put out the fire when he encountered them as he was leaving the scene.
Local firefighters believed a smaller fire, the Lachman Fire, had been extinguished on January 2. But on January 7, an unusually violent windstorm reignited invisible embers, according to investigators. These would get out of control and become the Palisades fire.
When did the Palisades Fire start?
The Palissades fire broke out on January 7, shortly before 10:30 a.m.
Whipped by strong winds, the embers turned into flames stretching from the hiking trail to neighborhoods of large houses hours later. Homes continued to burn on January 8 as firefighting forces were strained by several fires that broke out the same day, including the Eaton Fire, which killed 19 people and destroyed thousands of homes in eastern Los Angeles County.
What role ChatGPT plays in the matter
Prosecutors’ portrayal of Mr. Rinderknecht is largely inspired by his prompts for the generative artificial intelligence app ChatGPT, according to the affidavit.
In July, Mr. Rinderknecht prompted the app to generate a “dystopian painting divided into two parts,” according to the court document. On the one hand, he asked to show a forest on fire and people fleeing the fire. On the other side of the image, he asked ChatGPT to depict a door marked with a “giant dollar sign.”
“On the other side of the door and all over the wall is a conglomeration of the richest people,” he continued in his message. “They relax, watch the world burn and watch people struggle. They laugh and have fun and dance.”
Authorities displayed the ChatGPT-generated image during a news conference announcing the arrest Wednesday.
In November, according to the affidavit, Mr. Rinderknecht posted on ChatGPT that he had burned a Bible and wrote: “It was amazing. I felt so liberated.” He wrote a similar message to a family member.
Shortly after the Lachman Fire started, he asked ChatGPT, “Are you at fault if a fire starts because of your cigarettes,” misspelling the word “lit.” The app’s response was “Yes”, with an explanation.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT, said the company was cooperating with law enforcement requests for information. The company, which has faced scrutiny over how ChatGPT interacts with users, particularly children, said there was no indication the app generated content that went against the company’s policies.
How did the victims of the fires react?
Brian Park, whose Palisades home burned late on the morning of Jan. 8, said he was frustrated that even though there had been a fire in the area and officials knew a major windstorm was likely, officials had not deployed firefighting resources or monitored the previous fire site.
“It almost doesn’t matter where this January 1 event was triggered,” Park said.
Terry Fahn and his family moved into their newly built home in Palisades in 2013. It was destroyed in the fire, and as of Wednesday, it’s been two months since they submitted plans to rebuild — almost the exact same plans they used to build their home in the first place.
Mr. Fahn said city planners requested changes and delayed granting the permit. City leaders had promised that rebuilding permits would be approved quickly without red tape getting in the way. Mr. Fahn said he and his family would feel a greater sense of closure if they could move forward with rebuilding.
“That would give us more hope,” he added. For now, he said, “our elected officials are not keeping their promises.”
Ryan Mac reports contributed.
