Democrats, Media Rushed To Blame Deadly California Fire on Climate Change. It Was Actually Arson.
Federal prosecutors in California charged Jonathan Rinderknecht with one count of destruction of property by means of fire, a charge that carries a maximum time of 20 years in federal prison. “While we cannot bring back what victims lost, we hope this criminal case brings some measure of justice to those affected by this horrific tragedy,” said acting U.S. attorney Bill Essayli.
The charge—which Essayli said was informed by witness statements, video surveillance, cell phone data, and an analysis of fire dynamics conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—cuts against the narrative prominent Democratic lawmakers and media outlets pushed following the tragic event.
NEW: A photo has been released of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht who has been arrested and charged for starting the devastating Palisades Fire in California.
ACTING US ATTORNEY BILL ESSAYLI: “The complaint alleges that Rinderknecht’s started a fire in Pacific Palisades on New… pic.twitter.com/bHKdaiVqtl
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 8, 2025
CNN reporter Stephen Collinson, for example, said it was “true” climate change caused less rainfall to occur in the weeks prior during a Jan. 12, 2025, appearance on the network, leading to drier conditions that ignited the fire.
Michael Mann, a left-wing climate scientist and University of Pennsylvania professor, similarly claimed on CNN that “human-caused warming” is to blame for drier conditions that amplified the fire.
“The climate has long been in crisis,” MSNBC host Jen Psaki said. “For California, that means drier conditions and more intense fires, and there’s clear evidence that these destructive events are only becoming more and more likely.”
Overall, the Palisades Fire devastated Los Angeles throughout January 2025, killing 12 people, burning 23,448 acres of land, and destroying 6,873 residential and commercial structures, state data show. Prosecutors said Wednesday that Rinderknecht started the fire from a hilltop near a hiking trail in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.
“Peer-reviewed studies and direct fire data show that wildfires are burning fewer and fewer square miles of land each year as our climate warms and rainfall modestly increases,” James Taylor, the president of the right-leaning Heartland Institute, told the Washington Free Beacon. “Facts trump alarmism.”
