Stephen Pittman charged in Mississippi synagogue arson at Beth Israel

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A suspect accused of setting fireplace to a Mississippi synagogue as soon as bombed by the Ku Klux Klan admitted he focused the constructing as a result of it's a Jewish home of worship and was became police after a laughing confession to his father, the FBI mentioned Monday.

Stephen Pittman, 19, was charged in federal courtroom with maliciously damaging or destroying a constructing by fireplace or explosive in reference to the weekend arson at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson.

In response to an FBI affidavit, Pittman admitted to lighting the fireplace contained in the synagogue, referring to it as "the synagogue of Devil." Authorities mentioned Pittman’s father contacted the FBI after he noticed burns on Pittman’s ankles, fingers and face, and listening to his son confess to setting the constructing on fireplace.

"Pittman laughed as he advised his father what he did and mentioned he lastly obtained them," the FBI mentioned within the doc, based on WLBT-TV.

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This photograph offered by Beth Israel Congregation exhibits harm sustained throughout a fireplace, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, at Beth Israel Congregation, in Jackson, Miss. (Beth Israel Congregation through AP)

Pittman made his first look Monday in U.S. District Court docket through video from a hospital mattress, the place each of his fingers have been visibly bandaged. A public defender was appointed to symbolize him.

Prosecutors mentioned Pittman faces 5 to twenty years in jail if convicted. When the decide suggested him of his rights, Pittman responded, "Jesus Christ is Lord."

Providers on the synagogue have been suspended indefinitely following the fireplace. (Beth Israel)

Pittman advised the decide he's a highschool graduate who accomplished three semesters of faculty. He's scheduled to return to courtroom on Jan. 20 for a preliminary and detention listening to.

The hearth broke out shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday. No congregants or firefighters have been injured, however the blaze precipitated in depth harm to the synagogue’s library and administrative workplaces.

Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson is the state’s largest synagogue. No congregants have been injured, officers mentioned. (Beth Israel)

Safety footage launched by the congregation exhibits a masked, hooded particular person pouring liquid from a fuel can onto the ground and a sofa contained in the constructing’s foyer. Investigators mentioned Pittman stopped at a fuel station beforehand to purchase gasoline and eliminated his automobile’s license plate. He allegedly used an ax to interrupt a window, poured gasoline contained in the synagogue and ignited it with a torch lighter.

The affidavit mentioned Pittman texted his father a photograph of the synagogue earlier than the fireplace, writing, "There’s a furnace within the again." When his father urged him to return residence, Pittman allegedly replied that he was "due for a homerun" and mentioned, "I did my analysis."

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Investigators later recovered a burned cellphone believed to belong to Pittman, and seized a hand torch discovered by a congregant.

Boards cowl the charred stays of the Beth Israel Congregation library, which was set on fireplace early Saturday morning, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Jackson, Mississippi. (AP Picture / Sophie Bates)

5 Torah scrolls contained in the sanctuary have been being evaluated for smoke harm. Two Torahs saved within the synagogue’s library have been destroyed. One other Torah that survived the Holocaust was protected behind glass and was not broken, the congregation mentioned.

The 165-year-old synagogue is the biggest one within the state and was beforehand bombed by the Ku Klux Klan within the Nineteen Sixties.

"This information places a face and title to this tragedy, however doesn't change our resolve to proudly — even defiantly — proceed Jewish life in Jackson within the face of hatred," Beth Israel Congregation mentioned in a press release.

Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi mentioned in a press release by the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of Mississippi that she has directed prosecutors to hunt "extreme penalties."

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"This disgusting act of anti-Semitic violence has no place in our nation, and in contrast to the prior administration, this Division of Justice won't let anti-Semitism fester and flourish," Bondi mentioned.