Report: Homeless Arsonist Behind Calif. Wildfire That Killed 40 People Is An Illegal Alien

By

Warner Todd Huston

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With California’s wine country still burning, one man has been arrested and charged with arson. But news just broke that the accused arsonist has been tagged as an illegal alien.

Jesus Fabian Gonzalez is now sitting in the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of arson for being at least one of those responsible for the rash of fires that have devastated California this month killing at least 40.

Who is this Jesus Gonzalez? Breitbart News reported this on October 14.

A homeless man, Jesus Fabian Gonzalez, was arrested Sunday afternoon in Wine Country on suspicion of arson after leaving a creek bed where a fire was burning in Sonoma County’s Maxwell Farms Regional Park.

Sonoma County Sheriff Sargent Spencer Crum told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that a team of county probation officers patrolling the Maxwell Park area after a series of reports of ongoing fires in the region had observed Gonzalez, age 29, as he “walked out of the creek area and a plume of smoke behind him.”

Sheriff’s Deputy John Grohl responded to the probation officers’ call and confronted Gonzalez, who was wearing a trench coat. Gonzalez is well known to local law enforcement officials, and he reportedly usually is seen living under a nearby bridge. He told the law enforcement detail that “he started the fire because he was cold.”

As Breitbart noted, “Mr. Gonzalez was booked into the Sonoma County Jail for suspicion of felony arson. His bail was set at a steep $110,000, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff Public Information Officer.”

But now the federal Department of Immigration has slapped Gonzalez with an immigration detainer — meaning he is an illegal alien.

Breitbart again has the update:

Sargent Spencer Crum told Breitbart that Mr. Gonzalez is also on a U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) detainer request, despite Sonoma County declaring itself as a “sanctuary county” in May 2014. The county only cooperates with “ICE holds” if the prisoner has been convicted of a felony or any misdemeanor offense that falls within the Trust Act within the last five years. Mr. Gonzalez’s immigration status has not yet been announced.

But guess who is complaining about the ICE order?

Yeah, the ACLU:

The American Civil Liberties Union argues detainers are a violation of “unreasonable searches and seizures” under the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.

Sonoma County has already refused to work with the federal government, tough. In fact, the county has allowed an alarming number of criminal illegals go without ICE notice.

According to ICE documents, Sonoma County declined 491 detainer requests in 2014 and 2015. During the 2017 period from January 28 through February 3, when President Donald Trump issued his immigration Executive Order 13768 to require all federal, state and local government to comply with ICE detainers, Sonoma County still denied detainers.

The fires in the area have been devastating for California.

On October 13, CNN reported that nearly 6,000 buildings had been destroyed and 36 killed (that has been upped to 40).

Meanwhile, officials are making grim discoveries — victims burnt beyond recognition — as they search blackened ruins of some of the 5,700 homes and business that have been destroyed.

“Some of (the remains) are merely ashes and bones,” Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said at a Thursday evening news conference. “And we may never get truly confirmative identification on ashes. When you’re cremated, you can’t get an ID.”

Thirty-six people have been killed since the wildfires began Sunday night, making this outbreak one of the deadliest in state history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

CNN went on:

  • Of the 36 people who were killed by the fires since Sunday night, 19 died in Sonoma County, officials said. Nine people in Mendocino County, at least four in Yuba County and four in Napa County have died, officials said.
  • More than 2,800 residences in Santa Rosa have been destroyed by wildfires, Mayor Chris Coursey said. The number of destroyed structures in the state went up Friday by 2,200 to 5,700, Cal Fire said.
  • Wildfires have burned more than 221,000 acres throughout California; 17 wildfires remained Friday, Cal Fire said.
  • Winds could be especially gusty Friday night through Saturday. Those conditions, joined with low humidity, could spread the flames drastically, the National Weather Service warns. “Very dangerous #fire conditions expected overnight (Friday) due to strong winds and ongoing fires. Please be prepared & aware!” the weather service tweeted.
  • The causes of the fires are under investigation. But officials said their spread was aided by strong winds Sunday night, with some gusts of more than 70 mph.
  • About 34,000 utility customers are without electricity service — and natural gas service to 47,000 customers has been shut off — mostly in Sonoma and Napa counties, the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Friday.
  • The fires are contained in some areas, but still raging in others.

The fires are contained in some areas, but still raging in others.