Los Angeles wildfires: Threads post falsely claims police are searching for suspect tied to MAGA

As deadly wildfires burned across the Los Angeles area, destroying thousands of acres of land, homes and businesses, some social media users claimed the fires’ cause was politically motivated.

A Jan. 8 Threads post said the Los Angeles Police Department is "looking for three ‘persons of interest’ all tied to a MAGA website who were spotted at the source of all three major LA fires. This might have been the opening salvo in Trump’s war against any State he considers an ‘enemy within.’"

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

(Screenshot from Threads)

But there have been no official reports that people connected to President-elect Donald Trump’s "Make America Great Again" movement started the fires.

The Los Angeles Police Department has not said on its website or social media accounts that its officers are looking for "persons of interest" in connection with the wildfires. PolitiFact contacted the police department, but did not receive a response before publication.

When we contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, a spokesperson declined to comment and referred us to the Los Angeles Police Department.

We also found no credible news reports about authorities searching for suspects who caused the ongoing wildfires.

In multiple press conferences since the wildfires began Jan. 7, Los Angeles city and county officials have made no mention of a search for "persons of interest" who started the fires.

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Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone and Los Angeles City Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley both said at Jan. 8 and Jan. 9 press conferences that the wildfires’ cause is unknown and under investigation.

Marrone and Crowley said Jan. 9 that as soon as a cause is known, they will alert the public. High winds and dry conditions in Southern California have fueled the fires’ spread.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Jan. 9 on its website that the cause is "under investigation" for all five active fires in the Los Angeles area, which includes the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia and Sunset fires.

As of Jan. 9, about 180,000 people in Los Angeles have been forced to evacuate because of the wildfires, and another 200,000 people are under evacuation warnings, officials said.

The Palisades fire, which remains zero percent contained as of Jan. 9, has burned more than 17,000 acres and damaged more than 1,000 structures, including houses, businesses and cars. Crowley called it "one of the most destructive fires in the history of Los Angeles."

The Eaton fire, also zero percent contained as of Jan. 9, has burned more than 10,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 structures, Marrone said.

Authorities previously said at least five people had died in the fires, but Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a Jan. 9 press conference that the exact death toll is unknown and could rise above five.

"I want to be more confident in the specific information that I’m getting," Luna said. "So, what we’re doing now is going back through everything because you gotta understand the urgency, the chaotic nature of what we’re dealing with, and we’re still in the middle of that."

We rate the claim that the Los Angeles Police Department is "looking for three ‘persons of interest’ all tied to a MAGA website who were spotted at the source of all three major LA fires" False.

PolitiFact Contributing Writer Caleb McCullough contributed to this report.