Mistrial declared for Palisades Fire suspect allegedly inspired by Mangione

A federal judge declared a mistrial for the man accused of intentionally igniting the Palisades Fire after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested in October 2025 and charged with destruction of property by fire and pleaded not guilty after being charged in the Palisades Fire in January 2025. Ten of the jurors in California thought Rinderknecht was not guilty, while two thought he was.

“There is strong evidence that Jonathan Rinderknecht was responsible for igniting the fire that eventually became the Palisades fire on January 1, 2025,” United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in a post on X. “We fully intend to retry this case before a new jury and obtain guilty verdicts on all charges.”

On Thursday afternoon, jurors said they had reached a verdict, but came back 30 minutes later and said they had not reached a verdict.

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“Would additional instructions or rereading of any statements aid the jury’s deliberation?” the judge asked.

The jury responded, “There is nothing the court can do to assist the jury in its deliberations. Additional instructions or rereading the testimony would not assist deliberations. Unfortunately, we cannot reach a unanimous verdict.”

According to estimates, the fire caused a total of $35 billion and $45 billion in damage and killed 12 people.

During the hearing, behavioral analyst Kevin Kelm testified that he believed Rinderknecht’s behavior was similar to someone motivated by “social revenge.”

In social revenge cases, the suspect often focuses on personal problems such as finances, relationships, work, lifestyle or anything they can’t handle on a daily basis, Kelm said. He said Rinderknecht’s use of ChatGPT was to create a “dystopian image” of the world, one that represents the barrier between rich people and other individuals who don’t have as much money.

Prosecutors say Rinderknecht was inspired in part by Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

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Jonathan Rinderknecht appeared in federal court in Orlando, Florida, on October 9, 2025. He faces charges for allegedly starting a New Year’s Day fire in Pacific Palisades, California, killing 12 people. (Neftali Melendez)

“In the months before the fire, he had become increasingly angry with his own life and society in general,” prosecutors said in a court filing. he wrote. “For example, in the weeks and hours before the fire, the defendant focused on Luigi Mangione, who allegedly murdered the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in New York City on December 4, 2024.”

Federal prosecutors said Rinderknecht searched for the terms “free LuigiMangione,” “let’s take out all billionaires” and “reddit let’s kill all billionaires” on Dec. 12 and 13, 2024.

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Luigi Mangione appeared for a preliminary hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on June 17, 2026. (Repository from Barry Williams for New York Daily News)

“When investigators asked the defendant why someone would commit arson on the Pacific Rim, the defendant replied that it might stem from anger at rich people enjoying their money because ‘we’re basically enslaved by them,’ and compared such an act of ‘desperation’ to the murder for which Mangione was charged,” prosecutors said.

Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said in a statement to Fox News Digital: “As we have previously stated in numerous public court filings, Mr. Mangione does not support violent acts and does not condone past or future political violence. These repeated attempts to associate him with unrelated acts or to imply that he condones or supports those acts are irresponsible, dangerous and prejudicial.”

Fox News’ Amanda Gillilan contributed to this report.