(RNS) — The fire that ripped through Jackson, Mississippi’s only synagogue appears to be an act of arson on the part of a man who admitted to targeting the institution because of its “Jewish ties,” according to the FBI.
On Monday (Jan. 12), Stephen Spencer Pittman was charged with maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive, The Associated Press reported. Pittman was found at a local hospital where he had non-life threatening burns and was arrested shortly thereafter.
Pittman confessed to setting a fire at Beth Israel Congregation around 3 a.m. on Saturday (Jan. 10), in what appears to be part of a growing number of antisemitic incidents worldwide.
No synagogue members were injured, and the sanctuary mostly escaped harm. But two Torah scrolls were destroyed in the fire, and the synagogue’s library and offices suffered extensive damage. Five other Torah scrolls were damaged. The historic building also houses the offices of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which supports Jewish life in the region.
This is the second arson at the Reform synagogue founded in 1860 by German Jewish immigrants and is Mississippi’s largest Jewish temple. In 1967, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the synagogue because its leaders advocated for racial integration.
This photo shows damage to the Beth Israel Congregation Synagogue from a fire that occurred on Satu …