The Los Angeles wildfire began in the first week of January 2025 and has now spread to nearly 23,000 acres, with 25 confirmed deaths (here, here and here). Evacuations and displacement of residents are still ongoing. Amid this crisis, a viral video (here, here and here) has surfaced on social media, showing a man being arrested by the police, accompanied by various stock images. The video claims that Richard Graves, CEO of Westland Company, is the person behind the wildfire and has been arrested. Let’s uncover the truth behind this video.

Claim: The viral video shows Richard Graves, CEO of Westland Company, being arrested for the wildfire in Los Angeles, California.
Fact: The video actually shows the arrest of Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman, on 13 April 2023, in Massachusetts for leaking classified documents related to U.S. national security. There is no evidence of anyone named Richard Graves being arrested in connection with the wildfire. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
To verify the truth, we first conducted a reverse image search using a screenshot from the first clip of the viral video showing a man in shorts with his hands raised, being arrested by the police. The search led us to a video from Bloomberg TV, uploaded on 14 April 2023, with the caption: “The FBI arrested 21-year-old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira in connection with the leak of highly classified documents, including maps, intelligence updates, and assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
Further research led us to multiple reports (here, here and here) confirming that Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman from Cape Cod National Guard Base, was arrested on 13 April 2023, in Dighton, Massachusetts, for leaking classified documents related to the war in Ukraine. The FBI apprehended him after investigating an online chat group where sensitive intelligence, including U.S. spy operations, was shared. The FBI also shared this update via their X handle.

The US Department of Justice announced on 12 November 2024, that 22-year-old Jack Teixeira, a former US Air National Guard member, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and three years of supervised release for retaining and transmitting hundreds of classified National Defence Information (NDI), including top-secret documents.

During our search, we could not find any credible reports about a person named Richard Graves in relation to the LA wildfires. According to reports, 39 people have been arrested in connection with the incident, and a Newsweek report listed the names and photos of those arrested, crediting the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD). We also checked SMPD’s website with press releases and arrest reports, where none of the arrested individuals were identified as Richard Graves. Furthermore, a check with Westland Development Group revealed that Abraham Assil is the CEO, not Richard Graves. This indicates that the viral video and the claim about Richard Graves are part of misinformation circulating regarding the LA wildfires.
To sum up, an old video is falsely shared as the CEO of a real estate company being arrested for the Los Angeles wildfire.