The man accused of starting a fire that would later ignite one of most destructive conflagrations in California history was described on Thursday as a lonely young man whose mental health had been declining and who looked to ChatGPT for guidance.
A day earlier, the authorities in Los Angeles said in court documents that Jonathan Rinderknecht used a lighter to start a small fire on a hiking trail in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Firefighters believed it was extinguished by the next day. But nearly a week later, investigators said, fearsome winds fanned smoldering embers from that blaze to become the Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
On Thursday, Mr. Rinderknecht appeared in court in Orlando, Fla., about 70 miles from where he was living. Here’s what we know about him.
Who is Jonathan Rinderknecht?
According to public records, court documents and information from Thursday’s court hearing, Mr. Rinderknecht, 29, has lived a peripatetic life, with a far-flung network of family and acquaintances.
Since 2016, he has been associated with addresses in Michigan, Florida and California. He told investigators that he grew up in France and speaks French fluently, and still has family there. A federal prosecutor said in a court hearing on Thursday that he had discussed plans recently to move to Bali.
In recent years, he had been living with a romantic partner in the Los Angeles area, starting in 2020. The relationship ended in 2023.
Several months ago, Mr. Rinderknecht moved in with his sister, his brother-in-law and their two children in Melbourne, Fla., lawyers said.
His lawyer in Florida, Aziza Hawthorne, an assistant federal defender, said in court that he has no criminal history and that he is working with a psychiatrist who has prescribed him medication. Ms. Hawthorne pointed out that his sisters and brother-in-law were in the courtroom to support him.
But federal prosecutors told a different story. Mr. Rinderknecht’s deteriorating mental health and apparent access to firearms made him dangerous to have in a home with young children. His sister and brother-in-law had tried, unsuccessfully, to get him to move out, in part with help from his father, who flew from France to Florida.
At one point, after police officers were called to their house, Mr. Rinderknecht’s brother-in-law told the local police that “he would burn the house down.”
According to Uber, he is no longer driving for the company and has been banned from the app. Mr. Rinderknecht had also been driving for DoorDash, according to public records.
What was his involvement?
Prosecutors say that Mr. Rinderknecht started a small fire with a lighter on a Pacific Palisades trail just after midnight on Jan. 1, not far from where he had been living.
On New Year’s Eve, Mr. Rinderknecht had been driving for Uber, according to an affidavit in support of the federal complaint.
Federal investigators said they determined that Mr. Rinderknecht had dropped off passengers before hiking nearby to a spot known as the Skull Rock trailhead. Cellphone and camera data they examined showed he was the only one there at the time the fire ignited. His passengers said later that he seemed angry and agitated that night.
Mr. Rinderknecht tried to call 911 multiple times before finally getting through, according to the affidavit. They said he took video at the trailhead and offered to help firefighters extinguish the blaze when he encountered them as he left the scene.
Local firefighters believed that smaller fire, the Lachman fire, was extinguished by Jan. 2. But on Jan. 7, an unusually fierce wind storm reignited invisible smoldering embers, according to investigators. Those would rage out of control and become the Palisades fire.
Investigators said they found evidence that Mr. Rinderknecht was fascinated with fire and destruction, citing his online history, including ChatGPT prompts.
Investigators also pointed to Mr. Rinderknecht’s affinity for a French rap song, “Un Zder, Un Thé” by the artist Josman, which describes despair and malaise. Mr. Rinderknecht listened to the song nine times in the four days leading up to the Jan. 1 fire. He had also watched the song’s music video, which depicts the artist lighting things on fire.
A federal prosecutor, Rachel Lyons, suggested in court on Thursday that Mr. Rinderknecht was feeling lonely just before New Year’s Day. Two days before the fire, he had texted his former partner, who responded, “I need space.” He also reached out to another individual who didn’t remember him, Ms. Lyons said.
What was he charged with?
Prosecutors have charged Mr. Rinderknecht with “maliciously” starting a fire that damaged and destroyed federal property. The New Year’s Day fire that they say he started, known as the Lachman fire, burned federal land within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, as well as land owned by the state and a conservation group, both of which receive federal funding.
“A single person’s recklessness caused one of the worst fires Los Angeles has ever seen,” said Bill Essayli, the 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 at a news conference on Wednesday that they examined more than 13,000 pieces of evidence and more than a million phone records as part of their investigation.
When did the Palisades fire start?
The Palisades fire started on Jan. 7, just before 10:30 a.m.
Whipped by hurricane-force winds, embers became flames racing from the hiking trail into neighborhoods of large homes hours later. Homes continued to burn on Jan. 8 as firefighting forces were stretched by multiple fires that erupted on the same day, including the Eaton fire, which killed 19 people and destroyed thousands of homes on the eastern side of Los Angeles County.
Victims of the fire said that while they believe Mr. Rinderknecht should be held accountable if he started the fire on purpose, they are still frustrated with what they have described as an inadequate response by government leaders. They have also questioned how the Lachman fire was able to reignite. Federal law enforcement officials said that so-called “holdover fires” were almost impossible to prevent.
What’s the latest in his case?
During the hearing on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, a judge considered whether Mr. Rinderknecht could be released on bond.
Judge Nathan Hill told Mr. Rinderknecht that he worried about his mental state, and that if he were released he would be alone without supervision, and possibly allowed to deteriorate further.
Ms. Lyons, the federal prosecutor, told the court that Mr. Rinderknecht was dangerous.
“He clearly has mental health issues and violent tendencies,” she said. “His behavior is getting more erratic.”
Mr. Rinderknecht shook his head and swayed side to side in a leather swiveling chair during the hearing.
Ultimately, Mr. Rinderknecht was denied bail and remains in custody. After the hearing, his sisters were seen in a courthouse hallway crying and holding each other. A preliminary hearing to review the facts of the case was scheduled for Oct. 17.
It was not yet clear when Mr. Rinderknecht would be extradited to California.
What role does ChatGPT play in the case?
Prosecutors’ portrait of Mr. Rinderknecht is drawn heavily from 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 one side, he asked it to show a burning forest and people running away from the fire. On the other side of the image, he asked ChatGPT to depict a gate marked with a “gigantic dollar sign.”
“On the other side of the gate and the entire wall is a conglomerate of the richest people,” he continued in the prompt. “They are chilling, watching the world burn down, and watching the people struggle. They are laughing, enjoying themselves, and dancing.”
The authorities displayed the image ChatGPT generated at a news conference announcing the arrest on Wednesday.
In November, according to the affidavit, Mr. Rinderknecht typed into ChatGPT that he burned a Bible and wrote: “It felt 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 is lift 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 cooperated with law enforcement requests for information. The company, which has faced scrutiny for the way that ChatGPT interacts with users, particularly children, said there had been no indication that the app generated content that goes against the company’s policies.
Ryan Mac contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.
Jill Cowan is a Times reporter based in Los Angeles, covering the forces shaping life in Southern California and throughout the state.
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