ONTARIO, CA — As Labor Day weekend arrives, an Ontario forklift driver who is accused of torching a paper products warehouse out of frustration for not having a living wage is back in the media spotlight.
As the arson case against Chamel Abdulkarim, of Highland builds, the legal battle is turning into a 'moral showdown,' The Los Angeles Times reported.
Abdulkarim has pleaded not guilty and asked to be released from jail pending trial, contending that his target was not hurting people "but corporate profits," The Times reported. Abdulkarim has compared himself to Luigi Mangioni, another "folk hero anticapitalist."
Abdulkarim livestreamed his rampage through a 1.2-million-square-foot warehouse holding Kimberly-Clark paper products. He caused $500 million in damage. His chilling mantra and messages were streamed for all to hear:
"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."
Within minutes, Ontario police officers arrested Abdulkarim, who was waiting to be cuffed. He was charged with aggravated arson, a special allegation of causing more than $10 million in damages, and six counts of arson — one for every pallet he is accused of setting on fire.
He remains behind bars without bail at the San Bernardino County West Valley Jail in Rancho Cucamonga, his case being heard by San Bernardino County Court Judge Joni I. Sinclair.
His public defender's attorneys have said he should be released on bail, contending his target was property, not people.
Public Defender Matthew Magorien argued in June that "(the case) involves violence against a multibillion-dollar corporation" and does not "involve violence toward other persons," The Los Angeles Times reported.
"The allegations in this case involve violence against toilet paper," Magorien told the judge at that time.
Prosecutors disagreed.
"This is a violent crime," San Bernardino County Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda Metz argued,according to the Times. "There were 18 employees present at the warehouse at the time that the defendant was starting these fires. He had knowledge that people worked at this warehouse."
Sinclair ruled that regardless of motive, or whether people or property were hurt, setting the fire could have injured someone, and Abdulkarim remains being held without bail.
'Our Job Is On Fire' Left Without A Place To Work
There were 18 people employed at the NFI-run Kimberly Clark warehouse the morning of the blaze.
All fled the burning building safely, and forklift driver Alex Montero told Patch he initially thought the suspected arsonist was trapped inside.
Later, Montero and his coworkers watched and filmed from a nearby bridge as the building burned beyond saving.
"I think we just lost our jobs," one person said.
"The F-n warehouse is on fire," he said on the night of the blaze. "We're cooked. I hope everybody made it out ok," Alex Montero said in the video. At that time, they thought Abdulkarim was trapped inside. No one had seen him.
Then, they saw the footage of Abdulkarim angrily setting pallets of toilet paper on fire with a lighter while ranting about poor pay at the facility.
It was worse to be left uncertain about their job prospects than to be frustrated by pay, Montero said. "Hopefully they're going to relocate us."
NFI contacted its Ontario Distribution Center workers, he said. "They're hopefully going to relocate us to another facility," Montero said.
That was in April.
When we last spoke, he had not yet received word on when or where he would be employed post-fire. He has not yet responded to a request for comment. NFI spokesperson Britny Francis shared a statement with Patch about the incident.
"We are grateful that all employees are accounted for and no injuries have been reported," Francis told Patch. "We have been informed that an NFI employee has been taken into custody, and we are cooperating with the authorities in their ongoing investigation."
NFI has yet to respond regarding what comes next for the employees of that facility, which it operates on behalf of Kimberly-Clark.
Another employee, who refused to give his name, told NBC LA that the fire "ruined people's lives."
"You are ruining people's lives doing this," the man said. "There are things going on in the world right now, but you don't go burning a building down because your life is more important. You are just going to make other people's lives worse."
The blaze was just one of several attacks across the Golden State and across the United States this year, all linked to anti-capitalist and anti-tech sentiments. Abdulkarim has been compared with Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of killing a CEO of UnitedHelathcare,as reported by the Los Angeles Times. He has also been compared to Texas resident Daniel Moreno-Gama, the 20-year-old who planned to firebomb the home bf OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
A Growing Backlash Against 'Wealthy Elites'
Thomas Zeitzoff, a professor at American University's School of Public Affairs, told Patch that there is a growing backlash in the country against wealthy elites, particularly in tech.
"There is a deep unease and growing skepticism about the tech industry in the US about how much power they have and how much political influence they have, especially AI," Zeitzoff said. "There are a lot of potential drivers for this kind of thing."
Both the right wing and the left wing may take these opportunities to politicize movements, but the data doesn't support the claim that any one side is tied to recent attacks.
Zeitzoff says that while people should tread carefully when ascribing motivations to suspects in these cases, he thinks there could be three trends happening: the anti-wealth movement, which has been around for a long time, the new anti-technology sentiment and the online memeifcation of people such as Mangione, making him look like a folk hero of sorts.
Both high-profile Golden State attacks coming so close together caught the attention of federal investigators, who said there has been a string of anti-tech, anti-capitalist attacks nationwide.
Just the day before the warehouse fire in Southern California, thirteen bullets were fired at the home of an Indianapolis councilmember on April 6. On his doorstep, a note read "No Data Centers."
A Closer Look At America's Capitalistic Values
In mid-April, as the Kimberly-Clark paper warehouse smoldered and the accused Ontario arsonist sat behind bars, Bill Essayli, the first Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California, held a press conference to discuss the highly publicized blaze. By setting fire to numerous pallets inside the 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse filled with retail products, Abdulkarim's actions were "an attack on America's capitalistic values."
"America is founded on capitalism," Essayli said. "Anyone who attacks our values, our way of life, our system, which provides goods and services to the most people, we're going to come after aggressively."
Essayli added that the trend where people are resorting to violence to communicate political messages or economic messages is "disturbing."
"I don't know if this guy saw himself as a Luigi, but he's an arsonist," Essayli said. "He's a criminal."
Also in April, numerous TikTok users shared footage of Abdulkarim igniting pallets of paper products along with their own take on the highly public act of arson.
"I'm not saying he's right, but I'm not saying he's wrong either," said Roseg_official in April. "People are fed up. Not only do jobs work you to the bone, they barely pay you enough money to get to work. Was it a foolish act? yes. Was it justified? Absolutely. And I'm pretty sure this man is in jail with no regrets."
"This was a statement." Roseg_Official went on to say, "We are barely surviving out here. I'm glad the 20 or so people inside escaped unharmed, but people are fed up."
For now, Abdulkarim is still in custody. The warehouse has been demolished in Ontario.
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