{"id":10055,"date":"2025-10-11T12:03:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T12:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T12:03:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T12:03:22","slug":"passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Passenger says Uber driver accused in Palisades Fire was \u2018nut job\u2019 who ranted about Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A passenger who rode with the man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades Fire on New Year\u2019s Day in Southern California has spoken out about his unsettling encounter, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Officials say\u00a029-year-old Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht\u00a0sparked a small fire after dropping off passengers during the holiday. The blaze later re-ignited on Jan. 7 amid strong winds and grew into the massive Palisades Fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brennan White told FOX 11 that him and his fianc\u00e9e\u00a0were picked up by Rinderknecht on last New Year\u2019s Eve, describing how the driver came across as “just a really angry guy.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He was a nut job,” White todl the outlet. “He kept on going about not finding girls and how horrible Trump was<\/a>.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

PALISADES FIRE SUSPECT MADE ANTI-TRUMP SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS, BLAMED CLIMATE CHANGE FOR CAUSING WILDFIRES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

He added that\u00a0Rinderknecht appeared to be ranting more to himself than to his passengers.<\/p>\n

White told FOX 11 that he had forgotten about the entire encounter until\u00a0Los Angeles police detectives<\/a> called him in February asking about their Uber driver, questioning his behavior and even inquiring about what the driver was wearing. White said he provided investigators with the ride receipt showing the driver\u2019s name, “Jon,” along with the timestamp and location, according to the station.<\/p>\n

WHO IS JONATHAN RINDERKNECHT, PALISADES FIRE SUSPECT ACCUSED OF SPARKING DEADLY BLAZE?<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

After giving his statement, White reportedly said he didn\u2019t think much more of it \u2014 until he later saw a photo of the man arrested in connection with the Pacific Palisades blaze.<\/p>\n

“We were probably his earlier ride,” White said, noting they were dropped off in the San Fernando Valley just before midnight.<\/p>\n

CALIFORNIANS CONFRONT MAN ACCUSED OF STARTING LA FIRE UNTIL POLICE MAKE ARREST<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

White, who works as a bartender in Malibu, said the connection was especially disturbing, FOX 11 reported.<\/p>\n

“I know so many people who lost their homes in that fire<\/a>,” he explained, saying he wishes he had known of Rinderknecht’s intentions so that he could have done something to stop him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Uber said<\/a> that it removed the driver’s access to the Uber platform as soon as the company learned of the driver’s suspected involvement and has worked closely with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) throughout the course of the investigation.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

– FOX NEWS<\/p>\n

This article appeared on the website foxnews.com
\nThis article is taken based on Law no. 8\/1996 of Romania. News does not enjoy copyright, so they can be taken, this is our right to take news and information in its entirety and distribute them further. The content was made available to us through the rss mechanism
\nOriginal Content<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A passenger who rode with the man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades Fire on New Year\u2019s Day in Southern California has spoken out about his unsettling encounter, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles. Officials say\u00a029-year-old Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht\u00a0sparked a small fire after dropping off passengers during the holiday. The blaze later re-ignited on […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1150,1],"tags":[1454,1164,114,2317,2695,631,35,1297,5629,9627,51,8567,226,341,9626],"class_list":["post-10055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fox-news","category-news","tag-job","tag-trump","tag-about","tag-accused","tag-driver","tag-fire","tag-in","tag-palisades","tag-passenger","tag-ranted","tag-says","tag-uber","tag-was","tag-who","tag-nut"],"yoast_head":"\nPassenger says Uber driver accused in Palisades Fire was \u2018nut job\u2019 who ranted about Trump - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Passenger says Uber driver accused in Palisades Fire was \u2018nut job\u2019 who ranted about Trump - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A passenger who rode with the man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades Fire on New Year\u2019s Day in Southern California has spoken out about his unsettling encounter, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles. Officials say\u00a029-year-old Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht\u00a0sparked a small fire after dropping off passengers during the holiday. The blaze later re-ignited on […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-11T12:03:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Misu Videan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Misu Videan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/\",\"name\":\"Passenger says Uber driver accused in Palisades Fire was \u2018nut job\u2019 who ranted about Trump - News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-11T12:03:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-11T12:03:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7d76dd7ecd7d235e40cce6ec62083b69\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Prima pagin\u0103\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Passenger says Uber driver accused in Palisades Fire was \u2018nut job\u2019 who ranted about Trump\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News\",\"description\":\"Euro TV News Agency\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7d76dd7ecd7d235e40cce6ec62083b69\",\"name\":\"Misu Videan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2584ffca062277b8497cf6c9182e423c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2584ffca062277b8497cf6c9182e423c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Misu Videan\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.ziaruldebanat.ro\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/author\/mihai_vidjean\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Passenger says Uber driver accused in Palisades Fire was \u2018nut job\u2019 who ranted about Trump - News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Passenger says Uber driver accused in Palisades Fire was \u2018nut job\u2019 who ranted about Trump - News","og_description":"A passenger who rode with the man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades Fire on New Year\u2019s Day in Southern California has spoken out about his unsettling encounter, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles. Officials say\u00a029-year-old Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht\u00a0sparked a small fire after dropping off passengers during the holiday. The blaze later re-ignited on […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/","og_site_name":"News","article_published_time":"2025-10-11T12:03:22+00:00","author":"Misu Videan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Misu Videan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/","url":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/","name":"Passenger says Uber driver accused in Palisades Fire was \u2018nut job\u2019 who ranted about Trump - News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-10-11T12:03:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-11T12:03:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7d76dd7ecd7d235e40cce6ec62083b69"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/passenger-says-uber-driver-accused-in-palisades-fire-was-nut-job-who-ranted-about-trump\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Prima pagin\u0103","item":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Passenger says Uber driver accused in Palisades Fire was \u2018nut job\u2019 who ranted about Trump"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/","name":"News","description":"Euro TV News Agency","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7d76dd7ecd7d235e40cce6ec62083b69","name":"Misu Videan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2584ffca062277b8497cf6c9182e423c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2584ffca062277b8497cf6c9182e423c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Misu Videan"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ziaruldebanat.ro"],"url":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/author\/mihai_vidjean\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10055\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}