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LOS ANGELES —  A mistrial was declared Friday in the federal arson case against Jonathan Rinderknecht, charged with starting a blaze in 2025 that prosecutors say developed into the deadly Palisades fire, one of the most devastating infernos in the city’s history.

Rinderknecht, 30, faces three charges over the blazes: one count of destruction of property by means of fire, one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and one count of timber set afire. After two days of deliberation, the jury was deadlocked over two holdouts who found Rinderknecht guilty of the charges. Ten jurors believed he was innocent.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote on X Friday that “the evidence is strong” against Rinderknecht and that prosecutors “fully intend to retry this case before a new jury.”

Federal prosecutors arrested Rinderknecht in October 2025, nine months after he allegedly used a lighter to start the Lachman fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.  The government argued that a holdover fire burned in underground root systems and reemerged on Jan. 7 as the Palisades fire, which claimed the lives of 12 people and decimated some 6,800 structures. 

Throughout the trial, which spanned nearly three weeks, prosecutors highlighted Rinderknecht’s ChatGPT history, including  repeated prompts for artificial intelligence-generated images depicting a fire blazing as the rich carried on unharmed, and his research on Luigi Mangione, a man charged with shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024. 

Prosecutors allege Rinderknecht spent months leading up to the arson stewing in anger over the wealthy residents of Los Angeles and feeling powerless to change his own monetary situation. They alleged Rinderknecht, motivated in part by frustration over no New Year’s Eve plans, ventured to a hill in the Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood he associated with “wealth and rejection,” and started a fire.

Defense attorney Steven Haney argued that Rinderknecht did not start the fire but found it — which, he asserted, could have been started by fireworks — and called 911 several times to report it to authorities.

The post Mistrial declared in Palisades fire arson case against Jonathan Rinderknecht appeared first on MS NOW.

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Ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday, the White House organized something it described as the Great American State Fair, which would help kick off the festivities in the nation’s capital. Even before Wednesday’s launch, however, the event started to unravel.

Not only did musical acts withdraw from the gathering, but roughly a fifth of the nation’s states decided not to send official delegations or spend public money on participating in the fair.

When the gathering got underway on Wednesday night, things managed to get even worse. Not only did Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy mock the musicians who chose not to perform — the former Fox News host labeled the artists “libtards,” an offensive term that combines the words “liberal” and “retard” — but he was soon followed by Donald Trump, who delivered a campaign-style speech and made much of the gathering a celebration of himself, not the country.

In case that weren’t quite enough, turnout for the event was — how do I put this gently — underwhelming.

An NBC News report noted, “Roughly half of those in Wednesday’s crowd of more than 1,000 wore Trump’s slogans or likeness on their clothes. For them, America’s 250th birthday was secondary to an opportunity to see the president.” The Washington Post ran a related report that noted, in reference to attendees, “The crowd thinly covered an area about the length of the National Museum of American History, smaller than some summer outdoor movie screenings.”

The New Republic added, “Dozens of attendees Wednesday were seen flocking toward the exits in the middle of Trump’s address, which was meant to kick-start the two-week event.”

Take a wild guess who did not appreciate the reporting.

On Thursday afternoon, the day after the poorly attended event, the president wrote on his social media platform:

The Crowd was incredible last night, packed to the brim — At least 45,000 people were there, with a huge Television and online audience. I wish we were able to have an even larger area, which we will be able to do on July 4th when I’ll be speaking again. The airplane flyovers and music were fantastic. Everybody stayed right until the end of my Speech because they loved hearing about a truly successful America.

Five hours later, either trying to convince the public or himself, he published a follow-up item, which read in part, “Last night’s Rally was packed — 45,000 people.”

An NBC News report described the president’s claim as “false,” adding that the actual total was “nowhere near 45,000 people.”

The fact that Trump appears to have lied about a crowd size is pitiful but predictable. He has, after all, been doing this since literally the first day of his first term.

But stepping back, it’s also worth appreciating the fact that the incumbent president is doing something inherently difficult: screwing up simple ceremonial duties.

We’re talking about a feel-good semiquincentennial celebration that should, at least in theory, easily bring Americans together. It’s a straightforward exercise that’s proving too difficult for Trump.

The post Trump scrambles to exaggerate pitiful crowd size at Great American State Fair event appeared first on MS NOW.

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