Accused Palisades arsonist made chilling Mangione-inspired threat to major CEO, federal agent reveals

The man on trial for allegedly sparking the deadly Palisades Fire had searched for the address of DoorDash’s CEO because he planned to murder him, a federal agent testified in court Thursday.Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, whose federal arson trial began in Los Angeles on Wednesday, had become “fixated” on CEO killer Luigi Mangione before the devastating blaze and suggested the inferno was started out of “resentment of the rich,” prosecutors charged.On Thursday, ATF Special Agent Michael Montevidoni revealed in bombshell testimony that an investigation last year showed Rinderknecht asked ChatGPT for the address of DoorDash co-founder and chief executive Tony Xu because “he was going to kill him.”Montevidoni said Rinderknecht also asked ChatGPT if Xu had children and surveillance cameras at his home.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story Rinderknecht, an Uber driver who previously worked for DoorDash, was obsessed with Mangione and had routinely searched “free Luigi Mangione” and “lets take down all the billionaires” online, prosecutor said.Montevidoni said he spoke during his investigation with several of Rinderknecht’s Uber passengers, who said Rinderknecht expressed support for Mangione the night the blaze broke out.One of those passengers testified Thursday that Rinderknecht talked about vigilantism and anti-capitalism, and expressed a hatred of President Trump.

“I told my friend Sam right when we got out, I was just like, ‘He’s a psychopath I just know it, he’s a serial killer or something,’” Macy Miller stated in court, adding that she “had such a bad feeling” after the ride.In a trial memorandum, prosecutors said passengers had described the defendant”as angry, intense, driving erratically, and ranting about ...