The man accused of setting fire to a California warehouse likened himself to Luigi Mangione after allegedly lighting multiple fires in the name of anti-capitalism.
Chamel Abdulkarim, a 29-year-old from Highland, California, was charged with arson of a building used in interstate and foreign commerce, Bill Essayli, the first assistant United States attorney, announced on Friday.
The warehouse, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles and owned by the consumer goods company Kimberly-Clark Corp, was set ablaze on Tuesday. Twenty employees were inside the facility when the fire was set, but no one was harmed. Abdulkarim is an employee of NFI Industries — a third-party distributor for Kimberly-Clark Corp. He is accused of intentionally starting multiple fires at the 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse.
Abdulkarim allegedly posted videos of himself on social media setting the pallets of paper on fire.
“You could hear his voice repeating several times, ‘All you had to do was pay us enough to live,'” Essayli said. He also said Abdulkarim seemed to be motivated by “hostility to capitalism and corporations.”
“The final video posted on Instagram showed the fire spreading throughout the warehouse and the defendant saying, ‘There goes your inventory,'” Essayli said. During a phone call, Abdulkarim compared himself to Mangione, the suspect who is currently standing trial for assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“There is an extremely disturbing trend where people are resorting to violence to communicate political messages or economic messages,” Essayli said.
Further, Abdulkarim allegedly texted a co-worker after the fires were started, reading, “All you had to do was pay us enough to live. Pay us more of the value WE bring. Not corporate. Didn’t see the shareholders picking up a shift.”
If convicted in federal court, Abdulkarim is anywhere from five to 20 years in prison.
Abdulkarim is also facing state-level charges. California charged Abdulkarim with one count of aggravated arson and six additional counts of arson. Each count of arson corresponds with a fire he is accused of starting, according to Jason Anderson, the San Bernardino County district attorney.
In California, aggravated arson is applicable to a crime when the damage from the fire exceeds $10.1 million, and carries a penalty of ten years to life. Based on initial estimates, the paper products were worth $500 million and the building was worth $150 million.
Abdulkarim is expected to be back in court on Friday, when he will be arraigned on the state charges.