Antisemitic arson destroys Jackson synagogue, suspect charged
Jackson, Mississippi’s only Jewish house of worship has been largely reduced to rubble after an antisemitic arson attack over the weekend.
(NBC)- Jackson, Mississippi’s only Jewish house of worship has been largely reduced to rubble after an antisemitic arson attack over the weekend.
Surveillance video from Beth Israel Synagogue shows a hooded suspect pouring gasoline inside the building before setting it on fire. Authorities say the blaze was deliberately set.
Nineteen-year-old Stephen Spencer Pittman is now charged with arson after allegedly confessing to starting the fire because of the building’s Jewish ties.
According to the FBI, map data shows Pittman left his home early Saturday, stopped at a gas station, and then traveled to what he referred to as “the synagogue of Satan.” Investigators say he used an axe to break a window, poured gasoline inside the building, and set the synagogue on fire.
Authorities say Pittman later laughed while telling his father what he had done and said he “finally got them.” His father then contacted law enforcement and turned his son in.
Jackson Deputy Fire Chief Cleotha Sanders Jr. called the attack an assault on the entire community.
“An attack against the synagogue is an attack against all of us,” Sanders said.
A spokesperson for the congregation confirmed that no members were inside the synagogue at the time of the fire, and no one was injured. However, at least two sacred prayer scrolls were destroyed in the blaze.
The attack comes amid a surge in antisemitic incidents across the United States following Hamas’ 2023 terror attack on Israel, according to recent data from the Anti-Defamation League.
This was not the first time Beth Israel Synagogue has been targeted. In 1967, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the temple and the home of its anti-segregationist rabbi, according to the synagogue’s website.
Pittman remains in custody as the synagogue says it plans to continue Jewish life in the community “proudly and defiantly.”
