Uber passenger calls accused Palisades Fireplace suspect 'nut job' who bashed Trump

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A passenger who rode with the person accused of sparking the lethal Palisades Fireplace on New Yr’s Day in Southern California has spoken out about his unsettling encounter, based on FOX 11 Los Angeles .

Officers say 29-year-old Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht sparked a small hearth after dropping off passengers through the vacation. The blaze later re-ignited on Jan. 7 amid robust winds and grew into the large Palisades Fireplace.

Brennan White informed FOX 11 that him and his fiancée have been picked up by Rinderknecht on final New Yr’s Eve, describing how the motive force got here throughout as "only a actually offended man."

"He was a nut job," White todl the outlet. "He saved on going about not discovering women and the way horrible Trump was ."

PALISADES FIRE SUSPECT MADE ANTI-TRUMP SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS, BLAMED CLIMATE CHANGE FOR CAUSING WILDFIRES

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, has been charged with igniting the blaze that finally grew to become the Palisades Fireplace in Los Angeles. (USAttyEssayli/X)

He added that Rinderknecht seemed to be ranting extra to himself than to his passengers.

White informed FOX 11 that he had forgotten about your complete encounter till Los Angeles police detectives known as him in February asking about their Uber driver, questioning his conduct and even inquiring about what the motive force was sporting. White stated he supplied investigators with the journey receipt exhibiting the motive force’s title, "Jon," together with the timestamp and site, based on the station.

WHO IS JONATHAN RINDERKNECHT, PALISADES FIRE SUSPECT ACCUSED OF SPARKING DEADLY BLAZE?

Firefighters watch a helicopter drop water on the Palisades Fireplace in Mandeville Canyon in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photograph/Jae C. Hong)

After giving his assertion, White reportedly stated he didn’t assume way more of it — till he later noticed a photograph of the person arrested in reference to the Pacific Palisades blaze.

"We have been in all probability his earlier journey," White stated, noting they have been dropped off within the San Fernando Valley simply earlier than midnight.

CALIFORNIANS CONFRONT MAN ACCUSED OF STARTING LA FIRE UNTIL POLICE MAKE ARREST

An aerial view reveals particles from burned properties following the Palisades Fireplace on the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles on Jan. 10, 2025. (REUTERS/Daniel Cole )

White, who works as a bartender in Malibu, stated the connection was particularly disturbing, FOX 11 reported.

"I do know so many individuals who misplaced their houses in that fire ," he defined, saying he needs he had identified of Rinderknecht's intentions in order that he might have completed one thing to cease him.

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Uber said that it eliminated the motive force's entry to the Uber platform as quickly as the corporate realized of the motive force's suspected involvement and has labored intently with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) all through the course of the investigation.