Man charged with maliciously damaging building after blaze at historic Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson
The FBI says that a suspect in the arson fire at a historic Mississippi synagogue admitted to targeting the institution because of its “Jewish ties”.
Stephen Spencer Pittman was charged on Monday with maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive, the FBI said.
The weekend fire ripped through Beth Israel Congregation shortly after 3am on Saturday. No congregants or firefighters were injured in the blaze. Security camera footage released on Monday by the synagogue showed a masked and hooded person using a gas can to pour a liquid on the floor and a couch in the building’s lobby.
Local and national officials, religious figures and activists condemned the fire at the 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, the state’s capital.
