Retrial Set for Man Accused in Palisades Fire

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, faces a retrial on arson charges this week after his first trial ended in a hung jury, The Guardian and NPR report. Federal prosecutors say he set the brush fire on December 31 that grew into the Lachman fire, which spread into the Palisades fire in January 2025. That blaze killed 12 people and ravaged thousands of buildings in Pacific Palisades. Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty, and jury selection starts Monday in downtown Los Angeles. Prosecutor Danbee C Kim told The Guardian, "He lit that fire to take back power." Our thoughts are with the families who lost loved ones and homes. A case this serious deserves a jury that hears every fact.

“He lit that fire to take back power,”prosecutor Danbee C Kim, via The Guardian