"Rage against Americans" cited in L.A. mass arson case

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**Frazzled**

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/05/us-losangeles-carfires-charges-idUSTRE80325720120105

"Rage against Americans" cited in L.A. arson case
Harry Burkhart, 24, is detained by the Los Angeles county sheriff's department on suspicion of setting dozens of fires across Los Angeles, in this file photo taken in West Hollywood January 2, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Gene Blevins/Files

LA arson suspect on 37 charges (01:16)

By Dan Whitcomb and Mary Slosson

LOS ANGELES | Thu Jan 5, 2012 6:17am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A German citizen was charged on Wednesday with setting dozens of fires across Los Angeles over the New Year's weekend in a spree an arson investigator said was motivated by a "rage against Americans."

Harry Burkhart, 24, who is also wanted in Germany on suspicion of burning down his home, was charged with 37 counts of arson stemming from the three-day wave of fires that caused an estimated $3 million in damage and left residents of Los Angeles and surrounding communities shaken.

Burkhart, who was guarded closely by three sheriffs deputies and at times appeared disoriented during a brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, was ordered held on $2.85 million bail.

Prosecutors asked the judge to order Burkhart, who was born in Chechnya, held without bail, citing his German citizenship and saying he posed a danger to the community.

Police arson investigator Edward Nordskog said most of the more than 50 fires were set late at night, while the occupants of apartment buildings were sleeping.

"It is my opinion that the defendant's criminal spree was motivated by his rage against Americans and that by setting these fires (the) defendant intended to harm and terrorize as many residents of the city and county of Los Angeles as possible," Nordskog wrote in court papers.

Nordskog did not say what he believed touched off the anti-American rage in Burkhart, whose mother is facing possible extradition to Germany on fraud charges.

A law enforcement official said Burkhart has been held on suicide watch at the Los Angeles County jail since his arrest on Monday.

State prosecutors in Germany said Burkhart was suspected of starting a fire that burned down his family's home in Neukirchen.

"He is accused of serious arson and suspected fraud. In the early hours of October 14, a timbered house went on fire in the Schwalm-Eder district and this person came under suspicion," said German state prosecutor Annemarie Wied.

OUTBURST IN COURT LEADS TO ARREST

Burkhart's 53-year-old mother, Dorothee Burkhart, was arrested last week in Los Angeles on a provisional warrant issued by German authorities and was facing extradition.

The elder Burkhart, who has been living in a Los Angeles apartment with her son, faces multiple charges of fraud and embezzlement in Germany, according to court documents.

She is accused of failing to pay a bill for breast augmentation, failing to return security deposits on rental properties she leased, and accepting money for apartment units she did not own, the court documents showed.

Dorothee Burkhart, also a German citizen, seemed unaware during a court appearance on Tuesday that her son had been arrested and asked a judge if the "German Nazis" were responsible for him disappearing.

There was conflicting information on how long Dorothee and Harry Burkhart have lived in the Los Angeles area.

A website for an erotic massage service based in Los Angeles is registered to a Dorothee Burkhart who shares the same address as Harry Burkhart. The site advertises topless but non-sexual sessions by appointment only.

Harry Burkhart was arrested after a tip from a member of the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security field office who recognized him on surveillance videotape from an outburst during his mother's initial court hearing, a state department spokeswoman said.

According to the declaration filed by Nordskog, Harry Burkhart was ejected from the courtroom during December 29 extradition proceedings for his mother after angrily shouting a profanity against Americans.

A man resembling Burkhart was captured on security cameras leaving the scene of several of the fires, which caused no fatalities. One firefighter was injured and another person suffered from smoke inhalation.

One of the fires damaged a house in the Hollywood Hills where late rocker Jim Morrison was inspired to write the 1968 song "Love Street" about his girlfriend.

(Additional reporting by Hillel Aron in Los Angeles and Sarah Marsh in Berlin; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

**Easy E**

I think he meant to say, "Rage Against the Machine" but accidentally said America.

**LordofHats**

That's a really weird case. Saw it on the news yesterday. Probably one of the weirdest cases I've ever heard of actually...

**d-usa**

So he hated America, and destroyed stuff because he hates America, and could have killed people because he hates America.

Lucky for him that he is German, if he was Muslim he would have been a terrorist.</sarcasm>

**Monster Rain**

I suppose that if I didn't like America that much I wouldn't live here.

**d-usa**

Monster Rain wrote:I suppose that if I didn't like America that much I wouldn't live here.

That depends, I don't like some things about America but that doesn't mean I should move. I do try to change things, although in a slightly more functional and socially acceptable manner than our fine specimen in the OP.

**Monster Rain**

Do you hate it to the point that you want to burn other peoples' property to punish them for being Americans?

If not, I don't think it's quite to the same degree to which I was referring.

**Frazzled**

d-usa wrote:So he hated America, and destroyed stuff because he hates America, and could have killed people because he hates America.

Lucky for him that he is German, if he was Muslim he would have been a terrorist.</sarcasm>

Read the article again. He's actually not from Germany and is native to a Central European country who's name suddenly escapes me.

**d-usa**

Well, even the news in Germany is claiming him as one of our own.

But is he Muslim, we need to know that to see if it was terrorism or not

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Looks like he is Chechnyan with German nationality.

Of course I don't think we have the strong "citizen v. national" mindset that is so prevalent in many other cultures. It still exists, but not as extreme IMO.

**schadenfreude**

He's a mentally unstable arsonists that's angry that his mother who is literally a whore is being extradited to Germany to face criminal charges there. Not much of a story there unless he concerts to Islam in prison.

**d-usa**

That was kind of my point. If we had the exact same story with "and he is Muslim" it would be all over the news, Fox News would scream for his head, etc etc etc.

But right now its "non-Muslim guy hates Americans and wants to kill them, boring..."

**Lone Cat**

d-usa wrote:So he hated America, and destroyed stuff because he hates America, and could have killed people because he hates America.

Lucky for him that he is German, if he was Muslim he would have been a terrorist.</sarcasm>

i don't know if he has any Fascism thinking? but this is quite the same thing Iran governments do against every americans and jews they've found.... Witch hunting.

**Frazzled**

Lone Cat wrote:
d-usa wrote:So he hated America, and destroyed stuff because he hates America, and could have killed people because he hates America.

Lucky for him that he is German, if he was Muslim he would have been a terrorist.</sarcasm>

i don't know if he has any Fascism thinking? but this is quite the same thing Iran governments do against every americans and jews they've found.... Witch hunting.

Wait, did you just say this turkey is the subject of a witch hunt. You don't know what the

you're talking about. Do you even know what witch hunt means?

**daedalus**

Monster Rain wrote:I suppose that if I didn't like America that much I wouldn't live here.

Oh, I don't know, without defending or condoning him, I want to point out that he never said he disliked America, only Americans. Could be he loves America.

After seeing the forum post about the "beauty queen", I'm not sure I like Americans, but that could just be limited to those from the south.

**Easy E**

Monster Rain wrote:Do you hate it to the point that you want to burn other peoples' property to punish them for being Americans?

No. I want to punish them for other things.

**biccat**

d-usa wrote:That was kind of my point. If we had the exact same story with "and he is Muslim" it would be all over the news, Fox News would scream for his head, etc etc etc.

But right now its "non-Muslim guy hates Americans and wants to kill them, boring..."

If violence is done to try to accomplish some political end then it is terrorism. If it's done because the guy "hates Americans" then it's not terrorism.

**Lone Cat**

Frazzled wrote:
Lone Cat wrote:
d-usa wrote:So he hated America, and destroyed stuff because he hates America, and could have killed people because he hates America.

Lucky for him that he is German, if he was Muslim he would have been a terrorist.</sarcasm>

i don't know if he has any Fascism thinking? but this is quite the same thing Iran governments do against every americans and jews they've found.... Witch hunting.

Wait, did you just say this turkey is the subject of a witch hunt. You don't know what the you're talking about. Do you even know what witch hunt means?

Witch Hunt in the modern context means some form of miscarriage of judgement. if the Holy Iranian Inquisition will burn a dude just because he was a U.S. marine. (and has no plot against the Holy Iranian Nation). that is.
that german arsonist holds quite the same beliefs as Iranian government. he did believes that every american citizens hold responsibility to the ruined finale of Germany, same as Holy Iranian Government believes that every americans are foes (with no regard that some black gangsters may serve the Iran governments) and equally evil.

**Frazzled**

Lone Cat wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
Lone Cat wrote:
d-usa wrote:So he hated America, and destroyed stuff because he hates America, and could have killed people because he hates America.

Lucky for him that he is German, if he was Muslim he would have been a terrorist.</sarcasm>

i don't know if he has any Fascism thinking? but this is quite the same thing Iran governments do against every americans and jews they've found.... Witch hunting.

Wait, did you just say this turkey is the subject of a witch hunt. You don't know what the you're talking about. Do you even know what witch hunt means?

Witch Hunt in the modern context means some form of miscarriage of judgement. if the Holy Iranian Inquisition will burn a dude just because he was a U.S. marine. (and has no plot against the Holy Iranian Nation). that is.
that german arsonist holds quite the same beliefs as Iranian government. he did believes that every american citizens hold responsibility to the ruined finale of Germany, same as Holy Iranian Government believes that every americans are foes (with no regard that some black gangsters may serve the Iran governments) and equally evil.

Ok, initially you were using the term incorrectly. By saying the US had a wichhunt for him, you were basically saying the charges against him were completely baseless and that it was politically or religiously motivated.

**Lone Cat**

nah... i'm not being an advocate to that arsonist. does he actually testify that he did that arson because of the WW2 finale ?

**Frazzled**

Lone Cat wrote:nah... i'm not being an advocate to that arsonist. does he actually testify that he did that arson because of the WW2 finale ?

I don't think WWII is part of it.