Lawyer of man who firebombed Sam Altman's home says accused was in mental health crisis; calls attempted murder charge "unfair and unjust"
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ’s home in San Francisco was attacked last week by a man who threw a Molotov cocktail at his residence. The SF Police arrested the accused, 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama , who is now facing charges of murder. Now, according to an AP report, the accused’s lawyer has said the accused was going through a mental health crisis at the time of the incident. During his first court appearance after the arrest, Moreno-Gama’s public defender argued that the charges are too severe and said Moreno-Gama, who is autistic, was not in a stable mental state when the incident took place.
As per the report, San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward said her client was experiencing an “acute mental health crisis.” “It is unfair and is unjust for the San Francisco district attorney and the federal government to fearmonger and to exploit the mental illness of a vulnerable, young man by turning a vandalism case into an attempted murder, life exposure case to gain support of a billionaire, and to get political points at the expense of true justice for everyone involved,” Ward said. “Regardless of a victim’s status, they all deserve justice and they all deserve safety,” she said.
When asked by the judge whether he agreed to continue his arraignment, the accused softly answered “yes”. San Francisco Judge Kenneth Wine ordered that he be held without bail. His arraignment has been scheduled for May 5.
San Francisco District Attorney disputes the claims
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins disputed that he was overcharged, saying Moreno-Gama carried out a “targeted attack on Mr. Altman” and that prosecutors had evidence to back up the charges. She said prosecutors would act the same whether the victim was a “billionaire or a CEO or any average San Franciscan.”
Stating that this is a strong case, they said “We have been trying our best to address these issues and get him effective treatment, and we are very concerned for his well-being”.
According to court filings, authorities said Moreno-Gama has expressed hatred of artificial intelligence in his writings, describing it as a danger to humanity and warning of “impending extinction,” according to court filings.
“This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious,” FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo as quoted in the AP report.
As per the report, San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward said her client was experiencing an “acute mental health crisis.” “It is unfair and is unjust for the San Francisco district attorney and the federal government to fearmonger and to exploit the mental illness of a vulnerable, young man by turning a vandalism case into an attempted murder, life exposure case to gain support of a billionaire, and to get political points at the expense of true justice for everyone involved,” Ward said. “Regardless of a victim’s status, they all deserve justice and they all deserve safety,” she said.
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When asked by the judge whether he agreed to continue his arraignment, the accused softly answered “yes”. San Francisco Judge Kenneth Wine ordered that he be held without bail. His arraignment has been scheduled for May 5.
San Francisco District Attorney disputes the claims
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins disputed that he was overcharged, saying Moreno-Gama carried out a “targeted attack on Mr. Altman” and that prosecutors had evidence to back up the charges. She said prosecutors would act the same whether the victim was a “billionaire or a CEO or any average San Franciscan.”
Stating that this is a strong case, they said “We have been trying our best to address these issues and get him effective treatment, and we are very concerned for his well-being”.
According to court filings, authorities said Moreno-Gama has expressed hatred of artificial intelligence in his writings, describing it as a danger to humanity and warning of “impending extinction,” according to court filings.
“This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious,” FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo as quoted in the AP report.
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