Man arrested over deadly Pacific Palisades fire in California
A man has been arrested in connection with a deadly wildfire that destroyed much of the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood in Los Angeles, California.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was detained for allegedly starting a fire on New Year’s Day that burned down much of the wealthy area a week later, acting US attorney Bill Essayli said.
The blaze, which erupted on 7 January, killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 homes and buildings in the Pacific Palisades, a wealthy coastal neighbourhood. It burned down mansions with views of the ocean and central Los Angeles.
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Sky News catches up with wildfire survivor
Rinderknecht allegedly started the fire after finishing his shift as an Uber driver.
He fled the scene of the original fire, but returned to the same trail where he had been earlier to watch it burn, according to Mr Essayli.
“He left as soon as he saw the fire trucks were headed to the location. He turned around and went back up there. And he took some video and, and watched them fight the fire,” Mr Essayli said
The fire burned down thousands of homes. Pic: AP
Rinderknecht made several 911 calls to report the fire, according to a criminal complaint.
During an interview with investigators on 24 January, Rinderknecht spoke of where the fire began – information that was not yet public and he would not have known if he hadn’t witnessed it, the complaint said.
Pic: AP
The suspect was visibly nervous during the interview, according to the complaint.
His efforts to call 911 and a question to ChatGPT about a cigarette lighting a fire indicated he “wanted to preserve evidence of himself trying to assist in the suppression of the fire and he wanted to create evidence regarding a more innocent explanation for the cause of the fire,” the complaint added.
Investigators determined the fire was intentionally lit, likely by a lighter used on vegetation or paper, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities found a “barbecue-style” lighter inside the glove compartment of his car.
Read more:
‘It’s an apocalypse’ – families return to homes reduced to ruins
Scale of ‘most destructive’ blazes in modern US history revealed
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Aerial video shows scale of LA fire destruction
Rinderknecht also lied about his location when the fire began, claiming he was near the bottom of the hiking trail, Mr Essayli said.
The fire was put out initially, but it continued to smoulder underground before reigniting during high winds a week later, Mr Essayli added.
A firefighter combating the Pacific Palisades fire. Pic: Reuters
Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida on Tuesday and will appear in court in the state on Wednesday.
He faces between five and 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
“While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy,” Mr Essayli said.
The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said: “More than nine months ago, our city faced one of the most devastating periods our region had ever seen. Lives were tragically lost. Thousands of homes were destroyed.
“Our heroic firefighters fought the blaze valiantly with no rest. Each day that families are displaced is a day too long and as we are working tirelessly to bring Angelenos home, we are also working towards closure and towards justice – and today is a step forward in that process.”
Investigators are still to determine the cause of the Eaton Fire, which broke out the same day in the community of Altadena and killed 18 people.
The man accused of killing right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk has appeared in person at court for the first time.
Tyler Robinson, 22, from Utah, is charged with aggravated murder in relation to the shooting of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem.
Charlie Kirk pictured in December 2024. Pic: Reuters
Video of the incident showed Kirk, 31, and a staunch ally of Donald Trump, reaching up with his right hand after a gunshot was heard as blood came out from the left side of his neck. He died shortly after.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.
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How the Charlie Kirk shooting unfolded
On Wednesday’s appearance at Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Robinson arrived in court with restraints on his wrists and ankles and wearing a dress shirt, tie and slacks.
Read more: What we can learn about suspect from charging document
According to the Associated Press, he smiled at family members sitting in the front row of the courtroom, where his mother teared up and wiped her eyes with a tissue.
He made previous court appearances via video or audio feed from jail.
Pic: AP
The shooting happened during Kirk’s “prove me wrong” series, which saw the father of two visit campuses and debate contentious subjects; in this case, he was discussing mass shootings.
Prosecutors say the bullet which struck Kirk’s neck “passed closely to several other individuals”, including the person questioning him as part of the event.
President Trump comforts Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika at his memorial service in Arizona in September. Pic: Reuters
A charging document about Robinson from September includes incriminating texts sent between the alleged shooter and his roommate after Kirk’s death.
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Judge Tony Graf also heard arguments on Wednesday about whether cameras and media should be allowed in the courtroom, with Robinson’s lawyers and the Utah County Sheriff’s Office asking for them to be banned.
Mr Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, has called for full transparency and said “we deserve to have cameras in there”.
The judge has already made allowances to protect Robinson’s presumption of innocence before a trial, agreeing that the case has drawn “extraordinary” public attention
US
US won’t ‘stand by and watch sanctioned vessels’, warns White House after tanker seized off Venezuela
The US will not “stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas”, the White House has warned, after American forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters she would not speak about future ship seizures, but said the US would continue to follow Donald Trump‘s sanction policies.
“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefing the media. Pic: Reuters
The US is gearing up to intercept more ships, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
One source said several more sanctioned tankers had been identified by the US for potential seizure.
Two of the people said the US Justice Department and Homeland Security had been planning the seizures for months.
American forces were monitoring vessels in Venezuelan ports and waiting for them to sail into international waters before taking action, one source added.
It comes after a crude oil tanker, named Skipper, on Wednesday was stormed by US forces executing a seizure warrant.
The ship left Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between 4 and 5 December after loading about 1.1 million barrels of oil, according to satellite information analysed by TankerTrackers.com and internal shipping data from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
A still from a video of US forces seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker, posted by Pam Bondi. Pic: X/@AGPamBondi
The real reason for Donald Trump’s Venezuela exploits
Donald Trump wants you to know that there is one leading reason why he is bearing down militarily on Venezuela: drugs.
It is, he has said repeatedly, that country’s part in the production and smuggling of illegal narcotics into America that lies behind the ratcheting up of forces in the Caribbean in recent weeks. But what if there’s something else going on here too? What if this is really all about oil?
In one respect this is clearly preposterous. After all, the United States is, by a country mile, the world’s biggest oil producer. Venezuela is a comparative minnow these days, the 21st biggest producer in the world, its output having been depressed under the Chavez and then Maduro regimes. Why should America care about Venezuelan oil?
For the answer, one needs to spend a moment – strange as this will sound – contemplating the chemistry of oil…
US attorney general Pam Bondi said on X, formerly Twitter, that the ship was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran”.
“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations,” she added.
Ms Leavitt said that “the United States does intend to get the oil” that was onboard the vessel.
The government in Caracas, led by President Nicolas Maduro, branded the ship’s seizure a “blatant theft” and an “act of international piracy”.
Read more:
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US-Venezuela crisis explained
Why tanker seized by US was ‘spoofing’ its location
The US has been ramping up the pressure on Mr Maduro and is reportedly considering trying to oust him. It has piled on sanctions, carried out a military build-up in the southern Caribbean, and launched attacks on suspected drug vessels from Venezuela.
Now America has issued new sanctions targeting Franqui Flores, Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, and Carlos Erik Malpica Flores – three nephews of Mr Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores – as well as on six crude oil tankers and six shipping companies linked to them.
Skipper. Credit: TankerTrackers
By seizing oil tankers, the US is threatening Mr Maduro’s government’s main revenue source – oil exports.
The sources said the US was focusing on what’s been called the shadow fleet – tankers transporting sanctioned oil to China, the biggest buyer of crude from Venezuela and Iran.
They said one shipper had already temporarily suspended three voyages transporting six million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil.
“The cargoes were just loaded and were about to start sailing to Asia,” a source said.
“Now the voyages are cancelled and tankers are waiting off the Venezuelan coast as it’s safer to do that.”
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