Mississippi man arrested after the state’s largest synagogue was torched identified as 19-year-old Stephen Spencer Pittman, who was hospitalized with burns following the arson.
By World Israel News Staff
The suspect arrested in connection with the torching of the largest synagogue in Mississippi over the weekend has been identified as 19-year-old Stephen Spencer Pittman, a resident of Madison, Mississippi.
Just after 3:00 a.m. on Saturday, a fire was reported at the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, the same congregation that was targeted by a Ku Klux Klan bombing attack in 1967.
While firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze before it spread beyond the synagogue, parts of the building sustained heavy damage, with the synagogue’s library and administrative office completely gutted.
The Jackson Fire Department quickly determined that the blaze was the result of arson. Investigators later confirmed this assessment when security camera footage showed a man breaking into the synagogue and pouring liquid from a gas canister before sparking a fire.
The FBI launched a joint investigation with the Jackson Police Department, the ATF, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and by Saturday night authorities announced that a suspect had been taken into custody.
On Monday, the Southern District of Mississippi branch of the United States Attorney’s Office and the Mississippi governor’s office identified the suspect as Stephen Spencer Pittman.
Pittman, they revealed, had been injured during the arson, and was admitted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center to treat burn injuries.
Immediately after the arson, Pittman contacted his father, boasting that he had “finally got them,” referring to the Jewish community, the FBI wrote in a criminal complaint filed against Pittman in a federal district court.
During their text conversation, Pittman’s father urged him to come home. Pittman wrote to his father that he had removed the license plate from his car and was wearing a hoodie during the arson in an attempt to evade arrest.
After returning home, Pittman was confronted by his father, who notified the FBI of his son’s actions.
According to the FBI complaint, Pittman’s father said that his son “laughed” while recalling the synagogue arson.
After he was arrested, Pittman told interrogators that he considered the house of worship to be a “synagogue of Satan.”
Authorities have indicted Pittman on arson charges, and if convicted he could face between five to 20 years in prison.
“This disgusting act of antisemitic violence has no place in our country, and unlike the prior administration, this Department of Justice will not let antisemitism fester and flourish,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“I have directed my prosecutors to seek severe penalties for this heinous act and remain deeply committed to protecting Jewish Americans from hatred.”
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