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While yet to be charged with arson, new details on the arrest of a blowtorch-wielding man in Los Angeles revealed interest from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As tens of thousands of acres of land and communities were devastated with a confirmed death toll climbing to 24, a great deal of attention had been turned to the litany of leadership decisions in California believed to have exacerbated the disaster.

In case funneling funding to the homeless over the fire department, reservoir issues, and woke priorities hadn’t quite made the tragedy a quintessential cautionary tale on leftism, a new report confirmed that the man recently arrested in the area of one of the wildfires was “an illegal alien from Mexico named Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva.”

Detailing an expected court appearance Monday, Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin posted to X Sunday, “Per ICE sources, the man seen in a viral video being subdued by residents & arrested by police [with] a blowtorch near the #KennethFire in West Hills is an illegal alien from Mexico named Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva.”

“He is in custody on a probation violation & has NOT been charged [with] arson. I’m told ICE will place a detainer request on him with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, but they do not expect it to be honored due to California’s Sanctuary State law,” he went on. “I’m told Sierra-Leyva will have a court appearance tomorrow. Again — he has not been charged [with] arson and is in custody only on a probation violation at the moment, as multiple agencies have been interviewing him.”

Signed into law under then-Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2017, the California Values Act, SB 54, bars state law enforcement officials from cooperating with federal immigration authorities even when ICE files a detainer request.

As had been reported, locals in the area confronted the man identified as Sierra-Leyva as he was alleged to be attempting to set materials on fire Thursday. However, LAPD Divisional Chief Dominic Choi relayed after the arrest, “After the interview and additional investigative steps, looking at some additional evidence that was present, they made the determination that there was not enough probable cause to arrest this person on arson or suspicion of arson.”

Speaking with Fox 11, one of the men from the scene where locals confronted the suspect said, “He was very, like, ‘I can’t stop. I can’t stop. I’m not putting this down. I’m doing this.’ And [he was] very focused on moving forward with the blow torch. And we’re like, ‘We can’t be doing that right now.’”

Likewise, witness Renata Grinsphun told KTLA, “We were sitting in the backyard, and suddenly, we hear a car come to a screeching halt, and the guy is running out saying, ‘Stop! Drop what you’re holding! Neighbors, he’s trying to start a fire! Call 911!’”

With weather alerts warning of more high winds in the area that could rekindle fires in areas where the flames have subsided, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna spoke about the human toll of the disaster as he explained, “The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office and the Los Angeles County Fire Department [are] using cadaver dogs, doing grid searches.”

“I don’t expect good news from those. We will keep people updated,” he added.

Kevin Haggerty
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