LOS ANGELES, CA — The man accused of deliberately setting what would become the deadly and destructive Palisades Fire pleaded not guilty on Thursday to three federal charges and was ordered held without bail, despite his attempts to ask a judge to let him out of custody.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, of Melbourne, Florida, is charged with destruction of property by means of fire, one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and one count of timber set afire.
Wearing white jail garb with a chain around his waist — but not handcuffed — Rinderknecht appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver, and spoke in a loud, clear voice as he pleaded “not guilty” to the charges. He also acknowledged to the judge that he understood the charges against him.
Rinderknecht has been in federal custody since he was arrested at his Florida home Oct. 7, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
As Thursday’s arraignment was about to begin, Rinderknecht interrupted and said, “Can I actually say something about detainment?,” ABC 7 reported.
Rinderknecht’s attorney cut him off and asked the judge for a break so he could speak privately to his client, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
His attorney, Steve Haney, had argued that his client should be eligible for bail because he is charged with setting a fire seven days before the much larger Palisades Fire officially broke out, according to Reuters.
Haney said his client has no criminal record and no history of mental health problems or drug use.
Haney later told reporters outside the courthouse that Rinderknecht is frustrated by being in jail.
“What we saw was a great deal of frustration from him; he’s a young man who is not really clear on why he is in jail, and he has a lot of frustration and anxiety right now,” Haney said, according to the New York Post. “I don’t think it was anything unusual or unordinary. As a defense attorney, I kind of like to see that kind of emotion from a client; it makes me understand and feel that they truly believe they are innocent, and that’s kind of what you saw in the courtroom today.”
Haney continued his comments to reporters, arguing that there’s insufficient evidence connecting Rinderknecht to the Palisades Fire.
“They’re trying to associate and blame him for a fire that he was possibly associated with on Jan. 1, the Lachman Fire, with a fire that started seven days later, which is the Palisades Fire. Why are they blaming him for whatever the fire department didn’t do?,” the Post reported.
The Palisades Fire broke out Jan. 7 in the coastal Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, burned 23,448 acres — over 36 square miles — and destroyed much of the community, killing 12 people. It destroyed 6,800 structures and damaged 1,000 more.
Rinderknecht is accused of setting a fire one week earlier. The eight-to-10-acre brush fire — dubbed the Lachman Fire — was contained by firefighters, but it smoldered underground in a hiking area adjacent to hillside homes and eventually reignited into what would become the Palisades Fire, according to prosecutors.
Rinderknecht, who was living in the Palisades at the time, had finished shift as an Uber driver on New Year’s Eve before setting the fire, prosecutors claim.
He drove up into the far northern reaches of the Palisades — near where he once lived — and walked up a hiking trail. He’s accused of setting the fire “with an open flame,” according to acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
The evidence against Rinderknecht includes iPhone videos, GPS location data and interviews. Prosecutors claim he had previously used ChatGPT to render an image of a “dystopian city burning down.”
If convicted as charged, Rinderknecht would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 45 years behind bars, according to prosecutors.
He’s set to return to court Nov. 12 for a status conference, and a tentative trial was set for Dec. 16.
City News Service contributed to this report.