The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigations have revealed that a suspect named Jonathan Rinderknecht may be behind the Palisades Fire. However, the agency has shared little about his motives at this time.
The Palisades Fire was a brutal start to 2025. Over 30 lives were lost, seven people went missing, others were injured, and billions of dollars’ worth of property was destroyed. There will never be a scenario where those affected could be compensated in a way that makes them forget what happened. Celebrity homes going up in flames may have grabbed headlines, but it was a citywide calamity that left elementary schools and museums torched in its wake.
On Oct. 8, Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida on suspicion of destruction of property by fire and now faces a mandatory five-year sentence, with a potential maximum of 20 years in a federal prison. Per Deadline, Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper was at a loss for words and declined to comment on the alleged motive, saying, “I’m not going to speculate or go into anything of that. We have evidence of that that will be addressed in trial, but evil people do evil things.”
The multi-agency investigation began as far back as Jan. 15. According to Fox 11 Los Angeles reporter Matthew Seedorf, investigators were already combing through Skull Rock Trail in the Palisades, believing that the fire’s origin could be found there.
NEW: ATF and arson investigators are combing through portions of the Skull Rock Trail in Pacific Palisades, CA. This is believed to be close to the origins of the Palisades Fire. #PalisadesFire pic.twitter.com/iK3nmRIFHY
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) January 14, 2025
Now, the ATF has concluded that the Palisades Fire was actually the result of a holdover fire from the Lachman Fire, which began on Jan. 1 and was thought to have been extinguished. According to agents, Rinderknecht — described as “agitated” at the time — walked up Skull Rock Trail on New Year’s Eve after dropping off passengers from his Uber a few minutes before midnight.
Investigators believe the Lachman Fire, the Palisades Fire, and Rinderknecht’s midnight trail are all connected. The Uber driver is suspected of igniting the blaze with an open flame — most likely a lighter — and setting fire to combustible materials such as vegetation or paper.
It’s still unclear why the suspect allegedly did this. However, further analysis of his search history revealed disturbing prompts on his personal ChatGPT account. Reportedly, he asked the chatbot whether someone is “truly at fault if you light a fire using a cigarette.” Earlier, he had even asked ChatGPT to create an image of what a city burnt down would look like.
BREAKING: Federal investigators say the man responsible for the catastrophic Palisades fire, Jonathan Rinderknecht, asked Chat GPT last July to create this “dystopian” image that shows a forest burning on the left and people running from it. In the middle, people in “poverty.”… pic.twitter.com/8VKCFn6d48
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) October 8, 2025
Refreshingly, some leaders have chosen to keep politics out of this and have simply celebrated the agents who have been investigating the case for the past nine months. Governor Gavin Newsom took to X to thank the ATF and, despite his differences with the Donald Trump administration, also expressed appreciation to the Justice Department. Attorney General Pam Bondi, however, used the opportunity to take yet another swipe at her now consistent foes — California’s leadership.
Great work by @USAttyEssayli and our federal agents to make this crucial arrest.@TheJusticeDept will deliver justice for the Palisades Fire and keep Californians safe — even if California leadership won’t. https://t.co/yzZqDtAptN
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) October 8, 2025
As the ATF said so eloquently about understanding motives: sometimes, evil is just evil. But we’ll certainly get more answers once the trial begins.