A man has been charged with deliberately setting fire to a historic synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, after admitting to the FBI that he targeted the building because of its "Jewish ties".
Charges filed after weekend blaze
Stephen Spencer Pittman was charged on Monday with maliciously damaging or destroying a building by fire or explosive. The fire tore through the Beth Israel Congregation shortly after 3am on Saturday. Fortunately, no congregants or firefighters were injured in the incident.
Security footage released by the synagogue showed a masked and hooded individual using a petrol can to pour a liquid on the floor and a couch in the building's lobby. The FBI stated that Pittman confessed to targeting the institution specifically due to its Jewish connections.
A legacy of resilience and partnership
The attack on the 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in the state capital, has drawn condemnation from local and national officials. The building holds a painful history, having been the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 in retaliation for the congregation's civil rights activism.
"That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life," said CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson, in a statement.
Jim Berk, CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, emphasised that the arson was an assault on a legacy shaped alongside the Black community through the civil rights struggle. "This attack is not only an act of antisemitism – it is an assault on that legacy," he said.
Assessing damage and moving forward
Michele Schipper, CEO of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, confirmed the congregation plans to continue its regular worship, likely at a local church that offered support. While assessing the damage, they discovered that a Torah that survived the Holocaust was behind glass and was not damaged. However, two Torahs in the library were destroyed, and five in the sanctuary are being checked for smoke damage.
"We are a resilient people," said Zach Shemper, the congregation's president. "With support from our community, we will rebuild."
Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League noted the attack occurred amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, calling it a "stark reminder" that such violence is escalating and demands condemnation and swift action.
