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Jury Selection Begins in Federal Trial Accusing Jonathan Rinderknecht of Starting Palisades Fire

Prosecutors will call ATF fire experts and present surveillance and digital evidence after a judge excluded AI-generated images.

An aerial view shows homes under construction amid empty lots more than a year after the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An aerial view shows the cleared site of a mobile home park more than a year after the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A chimney stands on a lot covered with weeds and wildflowers in front of a home under construction more than a year after the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
D. Berryman walks her dog, Tiny Dancer, past a fire-damaged building more than a year after the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Overview

  • The federal trial in Los Angeles opens with jury selection in June 2026 on charges that Jonathan Rinderknecht intentionally started a Jan. 1, 2025, blaze prosecutors say later resurfaced on Jan. 7 and became the deadly Palisades Fire.
  • Prosecutors say surveillance, witness statements and planned ATF and fire-engineering testimony will link Rinderknecht to the Hidden Buddha Hill origin and show the separate Lachman blaze smoldered underground before flaring into the Palisades Fire.
  • The government points to online searches and social media activity referencing Luigi Mangione and anti-elite rhetoric as evidence of motive, and it has described Rinderknecht as increasingly obsessed with fire-setting behavior.
  • Defense lawyers deny he started the fires, call the government’s pretrial narrative slanted, and plan to contest the timeline and the interpretation of the surveillance and digital material.
  • If convicted on the federal arson charges, Rinderknecht faces a prison term of five to 45 years, and the case raises wider questions about how courts treat AI-created material and how online fixation may factor into criminal investigations.