Althouse: "He wanted revenge — revenge against society because he blamed society for all his troubles."

June 12, 2026

"He wanted revenge — revenge against society because he blamed society for all his troubles."

"You’ll hear that in 2024, the defendant was lonely, with no real friends.... He lived by himself and was withdrawn."

Said the prosecutor, quoted in "Man accused of starting LA wildfire ‘wanted revenge on the rich’/Jonathan Rinderknecht is on trial for arson, facing allegations that he was behind the devastating fires that consumed thousands of homes" (London Times).

38 comments:

Iman said...: The malevolent, idiotic murderer/arsonist Rinderknecht should be put to death for his crimes.; 6/12/26, 8:23 AM
Mr. D said...: He didn't mean to start the fire; he was just trying to vote for Karen Bass and thought he needed to be performative to do so.; 6/12/26, 8:28 AM
Leland said...: Perhaps he was behind setting the fire, but the devastation belongs to the LA and California politicians that left dead brush in place, emptied the fire reservoirs, and prevented fire fighters from fully extinguishing the fire set by Rinderknecht.; 6/12/26, 8:30 AM
Ice Nine said...: Execute him, please. You know, the sensible thing. Oh, wait, it's California...never mind.; 6/12/26, 8:33 AM
n.n said...: The enmity of envy is a green impulse.; 6/12/26, 8:51 AM
n.n said...: Planned Perphood is a viable Choice in California. Abort. Sequester his carbon.; 6/12/26, 8:54 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Libtard Democrat Party politics in action. This is what the politics of hatred, resentment, and revenge produce.; 6/12/26, 8:54 AM
Josephbleau said...: No individual rain drop is responsible for the flood.; 6/12/26, 8:58 AM
bagoh20 said...: "wanted revenge on the rich"

I wonder where he got an idea like that.; 6/12/26, 9:01 AM
Yancey Ward said...: If he set the fire, then he isn't just an arsonist- he is a mass-murderer.; 6/12/26, 9:06 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Still think the idiots that left reservoirs dry should stand trial as accessories. Ditto Governor Newsom.; 6/12/26, 9:16 AM
Gusty Winds said...: Can we rename Global Warming "Jonathan Rinderknecht"?; 6/12/26, 9:33 AM
Dude1394 said...: So it was Elizabeth Warren or Bernie sanders.; 6/12/26, 9:35 AM
Aggie said...: He's a pyro, with a grudge against his own bad luck - if it was luck. Into jail he should go. Do they still jail people in California, or is that a phase yet to be explored?; 6/12/26, 9:41 AM
wildswan said...: "n.n said...
The enmity of envy is a green impulse."

Or an evergreen impulse.; 6/12/26, 9:42 AM
wildswan said...: During the Rinderknecht trial, his defence could be that his fire-setting wouldn't have been effective without the incompetence of the LA leadership. Then the facts would come out in a court of law. A grand jury could indict Bass and Co. as soon as the Rinderknecht trial ended.; 6/12/26, 9:47 AM
bagoh20 said...: Even when in the depths of poverty, I never felt any anger at the rich. I always expected to eventually get what I needed, even if there was no visible path there at the moment.

I never met anyone who worked hard and made sound decisions about money and lifestyle who was still poor. You can't have everything. You just need to make choices and think long term.; 6/12/26, 10:02 AM
Big Mike said...: The lawyers are conceding that he set the fires. They are not relying on on the “envy of the rich” to get him off — they are just trying to get a little sympathy.for him while they make the case that he didn’t know and could not have known that the LAFD, run by incompetent nincompoops, did not have every possible piece of equipment repaired and ready for gourd season. Nor could he possibly know that reservoirs were deliberately drained and left dry.

But in the end what I hope the jury focuses on is the cold, hard fact that a dozen people burned to death because of a fire he deliberately set.; 6/12/26, 10:14 AM
bagoh20 said...: If we could calculate and sum all the damage done by leftist rhetoric, we would probably abandon the 1st Amendment to stop it. Even free speech absolutists would have a hard time justifying living with that damage. Luckily we don't add it up.; 6/12/26, 10:15 AM
Art in LA said...: This reminds me of this line from 1984's cult classic "Repo Man" (starring Emilio Estevez) ... "I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate... and yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am."; 6/12/26, 10:22 AM
tim maguire said...: Where’d he get the idea that attacking the rich would be revenge for something?

Revenge for what, I wonder.; 6/12/26, 10:30 AM
Kevin said...: "He wanted revenge — revenge against society because he blamed society for all his troubles."

I picture Snoopy typing away on top of his doghouse, this being the 2026 version of "It was a dark and stormy night."; 6/12/26, 10:33 AM
Wince said...: Karen Bass "eggshelled" the "eggshell skull" that Rinderknecht cracked.; 6/12/26, 10:42 AM
boatbuilder said...: He's depraved on account of he's deprived.; 6/12/26, 10:44 AM
gilbar said...: Big Mike said...
"..the LAFD, run by incompetent nincompoops, did not have every possible piece of equipment repaired and ready for gourd season..
that reservoirs were deliberately drained and left dry.."

HEY! as the deputy chief of the LAFD said:
if you were STUPID enough to be in a fire in LA..
you were 'in the wrong place', and DESERVED TO DIE.

moral: do NOT be 'in the wrong place'.. that is: LA; 6/12/26, 10:54 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: I worked a substantial portion of my life for the very rich… white shoe NYC corp law firms, then deep pocket publishing companies and start-ups. Sure beat working for employers operating on a shoestring. (I got plenty of that crap in the popular music biz.) The pay, perks and working conditions offered by the very rich are great.; 6/12/26, 11:08 AM
Lazarus said...: "Rinderknecht" = "cowboy." Not the Wild West kind, but a peasant boy who watches over the cows. The name is a bit of a burden. No wonder the family left Germany.

Academics saw resentment or "ressentiment" as the foundation of the right-wing. They ignored the resentment of the left -- and of themselves. Now that academia is more a road to nowhere than a path to upward mobility, resentment is growing among the professoriat. Gary Maynard, a former criminology professor, was convicted of starting fires and obstructing firemen in 2024. "The Family," an ecoterrorist group, started a lot of fires earlier in the century.; 6/12/26, 11:26 AM
Peachy said...: We we told by the hack press that the fire was Trump's fault.; 6/12/26, 11:26 AM
Peachy said...: The dem's toxic and calculated rhetoric -> kills.; 6/12/26, 11:27 AM
Temujin said...: I know whenever I feel lonely I look for a massive housing community I can set on fire.

Seriously?; 6/12/26, 12:39 PM
Ralph L said...: Was this the fire that the FD wouldn't completely extinguish because of some protected vegetation, and it restarted?; 6/12/26, 2:06 PM
Big Mike said...: @Ralph L, I believe that is correct, yes.; 6/12/26, 4:39 PM
Achilles said...: man said...

The malevolent, idiotic murderer/arsonist Rinderknecht should be put to death for his crimes.

It should be public and it should be shown to 6th graders for a generation.; 6/12/26, 5:01 PM
The Godfather said...: Burn him at the stake?; 6/12/26, 5:29 PM
Mason G said...: "because of some protected vegetation"

Otherwise known as 'weeds', no doubt.; 6/12/26, 7:35 PM
jj121957 said...: Leland at 8:30 says it all.; 6/12/26, 7:41 PM
IamDevo said...: So, a typical democrat.; 6/13/26, 6:03 AM
JAORE said...: Rich is anyone with $1 more than me.
Burn those dastardly down!
Did I get that right Bernie? I'm your biggest fan and most loyal acolyte.; 6/14/26, 2:25 AM