RantCrush Top 5: June 6, 2017

Six months after the fire that killed 36 people in an Oakland warehouse, two people have been charged with manslaughter. Property manager Derick Ion Almena and creative director Max Harris, who was responsible for the concert the night of the fire, were both charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Reportedly, 25 people lived illegally in the warehouse at the time of the accident, even though it did not meet safety standards and there were no fire extinguishers. A stairwell was also blocked off on the night of the fire, trapping people inside.

Reasonable people would’ve known these actions could’ve caused risk of death, inspector says in charging Ghost Ship case pic.twitter.com/es15X6tawX

— Kimberly Veklerov (@KVeklerov) June 5, 2017

The rickety building was completely devoured in the fire, so there is no way to know what caused it. But the prosecutors are focusing on how careless it was to let people live there–
Almena and Harris “knowingly created a fire trap” that led to the death of 36 young people, District Attorney Nancy E. O’Malley said.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.