The SoCal man accused of deliberately torching a 1.2-million-square-foot Kimberly-Clark warehouse in San Bernadino County compared himself to alleged corporate healthcare assassin Luigi Mangione, cops say.
Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, of Highland, faces seven state-level felony arson charges over allegations he intentionally lit the six-alarm fire that engulfed the massive paper goods store in Ontario on Tuesday.
The former employee also faces an additional federal charge for “arson of a building used in interstate and foreign commerce,” over the horrifying blaze.
Abdulkarim compared himself to Mangione in a call he made to a woman he knew after the fire, according to charging documents.
In the call Abdulkarim said “a lot of people are going to understand” what he did and compared the arson to when “Luigi popped that motherf—ker.”
Abdulkarim also said the warehouse company “had it coming” and added, “I just cost the mother—kers billions.”
LA’s top federal prosecutor told the Post Friday the disgruntled worker embraced a radical left-wing ideology inspired in part by Mangione, 27, the famed suspect in the 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City.
“This is an alarming trend where we’re seeing far less far left political activists resorting to violence to advance their ideology,” said Essayli.
Mangione became a poster child for some in extreme left-wing circles after he allegedly assassinated the top insurance exec because of intense hatred for the U.S. health insurance industry, which Mangione called a “deadly, greed-fueled” cartel in his dairy.
Abdulkarim compared himself to Mangione in a call he made to a woman he knew after the fire, according to charging documents.
Essayli said a video posted to social media that shows the alleged arsonist setting the blaze also helped revealed his motive for sparking the inferno.
In the clip allegedly taken by Abdulkarim, he can be heard chanting, “all you had to do was pay us enough to live.”
“This is part of the concerning trend we’re seeing, particularly with younger people who are being radicalized by left wing ideology,” said Essayli.
“The feel really emboldened or justified in resorting to violence to communicate their political viewpoints,” he added.
Essayli said the cost of the fire is now estimated at $500 million, including the value of the goods inside the warehouse and the building itself. The structure alone was estimated to be worth around $152 million.
Abdulkarim was arrested by police Tuesday near the Kimberly Clark warehouse while the massive fire still raged.
About 20 employees, including Abdulkarim, were inside the building when the fire broke out, according to investigators.
Abdulkarim was initially missing but was quickly picked up by police, sources said.
He is being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. He is scheduled to be arraigned next week.
Abdulkarim in 2024 filed a class-action suit against a previous employer over break times and lost pay. He won a settlement in that case last year.
