A person wishing to remain anonymous has posted online claiming to have worked with
Jonathan Rinderknecht, the suspect charged with the Palisades Fire. Here is what was written:
I knew the Pacific Palisades arsonist and the media is wrong about him.
"I don’t know where to start with this. I’m not usually active on reddit but i’m having a bad day and I can’t get this off my mind.
I can provide some limited proof if needed… screenshots of a conversation. Proof I worked at a specific restaurant. But that’s all I have.
I’d like to remain anonymous.
We weren’t best friends. We were coworkers at a high volume restaurant. From what he’s told me personally, Jonathan has worked at multiple very well respected restaurants in the LA area. Fine dining. Maybe he was just talking … I don’t know.
He wasn’t just some “random uber driver from Florida” … I thought he lived in California/ the LA area for a WHILE. From what I know, he was doing well for himself for an unknown amount of time.
He was fired from some fancy job for one reason or another, and I met him at a high volume casual restaurant. I’d say he seem depressed and like his life was possibly going downhill. But nothing too dramatic. Didn’t get too personal.
Again, we weren’t best friends but we spent a lot of time together due to work. We got along well.
In personality, he was one of the most type A, meticulous people i’ve ever met. He was intentional with everything he did. He was a fine dining server through and through. He even had his own little special tools that he’d bring into this casual setting. It was to the point that people laughed about it. People LAUGHED about how meticulous, intentional, specific, he was about every detail because no one was asking him to do that in such a casual environment.
He’d hand-sew his uniform. No one else did that.
He was smart. He’d often tell stories about what it’s like to deal with the richest of the rich. I’m talking Dubai politicians. How they actually treat people behind close doors. He never talked about fire. 😂 … but the stories he’d tell about being a servant for the rich line up with the ChatGPT images he generated that are all over the news right now. I probably can’t legally say that he was saying things that suggested a motive. I won’t say i’m sure of that. I met him 3 years ago. I have zero proof that there is correlation between our conversations and his actions.
But I know he’s not some “dumb young kid” … he’s not some type of frat bro or anything like that. I know he didn’t “play with fireworks in a dry area” like SOME news outlets are saying because it’s been disproven. And it’s NOT his personality to do so in the first place. I personally couldn’t see him getting overly excited about a holiday or fireworks to begin with. But again, im just someone who spent a good amount of time with him at work. Not a girlfriend, close friend, or a family member.
I can say when I knew him, he worked out every day and he was ALWAYS clean shaven with a nice haircut. I didn’t even recognize him with his new look.
Some people thought he was creepy or unlikable. No one that I know of saw him as threatening.
Some are describing him as innocent, shy, and friendly in a way that I also don’t feel matches the personality I interacted with. He was nice, sure. But in my experience, he wasn’t the type of guy to show much emotion or get too excited about much at all. I guess he was serious and kind of stoic.
I do feel that he’s being labeled in a certain way due to race. But that’s just my opinion.
Personally, im feeling pretty bad because I lost the best job i’ve ever had due to the Pacific Palisades fire. I don’t want to make it seem like losing a job is as bad as losing a home. But I do personally feel like this tragedy ruined my life.
I’ve sobbed my eyes out many times over this.
And come to find out, the cause is not a stranger or a natural disaster. It’s a guy i’ve spent a lot of time with.
I was unemployed for months, and I’ve been struggling for this entire year. It’s been like a horrible and constant game of catch up.
I honestly feel like an idiot, like I should have really thought about why some people saw him as creepy and unlikable.
I feel like an idiot, I didn’t initially recognize his face on the news until someone texted me about it.
I feel like an idiot, every day I was spending time with the guy who was gonna ruin my life 3 years later.
But I know i’m not stupid when I say the media is wrong about this guy.
I’m very sure about what i’m saying.
And although i’d like to remain anonymous, and i’m sure experiences from 3 years ago won’t hold up very much as a testament of his character …
I did decide that I would like to share my opinion anyway. I thought it might mean something to some people. Don’t know."
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