Breitbart fabricated fake story that immigrant started deadly Sonoma wildfires, says Sherriff

A Sheriff has claimed a Breitbart article claiming an illegal immigrant was arrested in connection with the deadly fires in northern California is “false and misleading”.

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano discussed the false claim published in the far-right publication, which is run by President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, at a press conference on Tuesday.

“There is a story out there that he’s the arsonist in these fires,” Sheriff Giordano said at a press conference on Tuesday.

“That’s not the case. There’s no indication he’s related to these fires at all ... I wanted to kill that speculation right now, so we didn’t have things running too far out of control.”

He said California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is carrying out an investigation to work out how the fires started and it was not clear whether it was even arson.

“They have not released a cause. We don’t know if these fires were arson or caused by another source,” he said in a statement.

At least 42 people have died since a cluster of deadly wildfires devastated northern California and ravaged the state’s celebrated wine country.

Tony Lopez, a reporter at CBS news, also weighed in on the furore, saying: “Rumour control: a man arrested for starting a small fire in Sonoma Co is NOT connected to the large deadly wildfires in Wine Country.”

The article published in Breitbart, an online news site which has been nicknamed “Trumpbart” for its favourable coverage of President Trump, writes the suspect “was arrested Sunday on suspicion of arson in wine country fires that have killed at least 40 residents.”

Although it is accurate that a homeless illegal immigrant was arrested for starting a small fire at a park in Sonoma on Sunday, Sheriff Giordano insisted the suspect had no connection whatsoever to the bigger and of course deadly fires which erupted last Sunday.

Jesus Fabian Gonzalez, a homeless man "known to deputies," had started a fire to keep warm, according to Mr Giordano.

He said the man was witnessed “walking away from a small fire” on Sunday afternoon holding a fire extinguisher and lighter. After law enforcement pressed him about whether he had started the fire, he is believed to have said he started it to warm himself up.

According to Mr Giordano, the fire was so minor and small that a deputy managed to put out most of it before firefighters arrived to the park.

Despite the fact there is no evidence which connects Mr Gonzalez to the deadly fires, he is currently being detained in Sonoma Country prison on a $100,000 bond.

The article said the suspect was put on hold by ICE, the largest investigative agency in the Department of Homeland Security, which is correct but according to Giordano, that is the standard protocol.

This is by no means the first time Breitbart has been involved in such a controversy. The publication has published a number of falsehoods, conspiracy theories, and deliberately misleading stories.

The site was declared “the platform for the alt-right” - a political movement which has been accused of racism, anti-Semitism, and misogyny and of sharing an ideology with far-right parties such as the French National Front - by Mr Bannon in 2016.

The Independent contacted a representative of Breitbart for comment.