California Kimberly-Clark warehouse fire suspect compared himself to Luigi Mangione, prosecutors say

The man accused of filming himself burning down a 1.2 million square-foot warehouse in Southern California earlier this week privately bragged about the alleged crime after the fact, according to federal prosecutors.

Chamel Abdulkarim, 29 of Highland, faces federal and state charges in connection with the fire that destroyed a Kimberly-Clark paper goods warehouse in Ontario on Tuesday, prompting a massive six-alarm response. He was scheduled to be arraigned in a San Bernardino County courtroom on Friday, but the appearance was continued to Monday due to an undisclosed medical reason.

Police identified Abdulkarim as an employee of NFI Industries, a third-party distributor that works with the paper manufacturer. In a social media video, a person ignited pallets of toilet paper while proclaiming, "Should have paid us more."

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said that, in a phone call with a friend, Abdulkarim compared himself to Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024.  

According to federal prosecutors, he also bragged about the alleged arson in its immediate aftermath.

"I just cost these [expletive] billions [of dollars]," Abdulkarim allegedly told other individuals via phone call or text message. "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."

During a news conference on Friday, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said it's estimated that more than $500 million worth of paper products were destroyed in the fire, along with the more than $100 million building that burned down.

Abdulkarim allegedly caused at least six separate fires inside the building that eventually consumed it, Anderson said.

"Arson to me is a real head-scratcher," Anderson said. "There was at least 20 other people in this warehouse when these fires were started ... These crimes are taken very, very seriously."

Essayli said that if convicted, the federal arson charge levied against Abdulkarim would carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

"America is founded on free enterprise and capitalism. There is an extremely disturbing trend where people are resorting to violence to communicate political messages or economic messages," Essayli said. "Anyone who attacks our values ... we're going to come after aggressively."

Abdulkarim will face the state charges before federal, Essayli said. He's currently being held in state custody without bail.