The man accused of setting the 2025 fire that ultimately set off the devastating Pacific Palisades fire in Los Angeles was fixated on Luigi Mangione, the person who allegedly murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, ABC 7 reported Sunday.
In a trial memorandum, prosecutors said Jonathan Rinderknecht had focused on Mangione, who is accused of fatally shooting Thompson in December 2024 outside a hotel in Manhattan as he was walking down the sidewalk.
Before the Los Angeles fires erupted, Rinderknecht was also upset about a relationship with a former co-worker and about not having plans for New Year’s Eve, according to prosecutors.
The New York Post cited court documents that said Rinderknecht, who was an Uber driver, reportedly searched “free Luigi Mangione” and “let’s take down all the billionaires” online.
Some of his passengers claimed that on December 31, 2024, and January 1, 2025, the suspect was angry and ranted about capitalism and vigilantism.
The Post reported:
When asked why he ultimately set the blaze, Rinderknecht allegedly responded that it “would be out of resentment of the rich enjoying their money as ‘we’re basically being enslaved by them’ and compared such an act of ‘desperation’ to the murder for which Mangione was charged,” according to the [trial] memo [from prosecutors].
Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty to a string of federal arson charges for sparking the inferno that leveled 7,000 homes and businesses, caused $150 billion in damages and left 12 people dead in early 2025.
He also reportedly donated to former President Joe Biden’s (D) 2020 presidential campaign, according to Breitbart News, and ranted about President Donald Trump and “climate change” online.
Mangione reviewed “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto on the website Goodreads, calling him a “prodigy,” and stating that “violence is necessary to survive,” the outlet reported in December 2024.
Video footage of Mangione allegedly shooting Thompson circulated online:
Leftist Twitch streamer Hasan Piker recently tried to justify Mangione, saying, “Friedrich Engels wrote about the concept of social murder. And Brian Thompson, as the UnitedHealthcare CEO, was engaging in a tremendous amount of social murder.”
The Breitbart News article said Mangione has become a “rockstar for leftists” since he allegedly murdered Thompson.
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