Suspect Arrested After Arson Assault on Jackson, Mississippi’s Solely Synagogue

[ad_1] In one more heinous act of antisemitism, a synagogue in Mississippi was the goal of what was probably an arson assault early Saturday morning. The Beth Israel Synagogue in Jackson was set on hearth round 3 a.m. Saturday morning.

The fireplace destroyed Torahs and has now prompted an investigation by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Activity Pressure. No worshippers had been within the constructing when the hearth broke out. A lot of the harm was to an administrative workplace and the synagogue's library.

BREAKING: Jackson, Mississippi — the town’s solely synagogue, Beth Israel, was set on hearth throughout Shabbat.

Police and the FBI arrested a suspect after the hearth was dominated arson.

Your “jokes” on-line have real-world penalties. pic.twitter.com/WOuHaNqnOP

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 11, 2026 Jackson Mayor John Horhn issued an announcement, saying,

"Acts of antisemitism, racism, and spiritual hatred are assaults on Jackson as an entire and might be handled as acts of terror in opposition to residents’ security and freedom to worship."

READ MORE: Fetterman Slams Dem Get together's Embrace of Antisemitism, Two-State Answer

Horhn additionally confirmed that one particular person was in custody in relation to the blaze, however the suspect's title had not been launched or what costs that particular person could also be going through. Beth Israel is the one synagogue in Jackson, and the biggest within the state. This isn't the primary time it has been the goal of anti-Jewish assaults.

In keeping with the Institute for Southern Jewish Life, which operates from the constructing, in 1967, there was an assault on the synagogue due to its involvement within the Civil Rights motion. The institute additionally issued an announcement, saying,

"As Jackson’s solely synagogue, Beth Israel is a beloved establishment, and it's the fellowship of our neighbors and prolonged group that can see us by way of."

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) known as the hearth a "deliberate, focused assault on the Jewish group." ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt added,

"Beth Israel survived a KKK bombing in 1967. That it has been attacked once more, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents throughout the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it calls for complete condemnation and swift motion from everybody — together with group leaders, legislation enforcement, and authorities officers."

For the reason that October 7, 2023, assault on Israel by Hamas, incidents of antisemitism have enormously elevated around the globe, together with within the U.S. In New York Metropolis, there was some query as to how a lot help the house to the biggest Jewish group exterior of Israel would obtain from the town's first Muslim Mayor, Zohran Mamdani.

In October of final 12 months, earlier than the election, Mamdani appeared with Fox Information's Martha MacCallum on "The Story" and refused to sentence Hamas.

MIssissippi's largest synagogue destroyed in an arson assault on the Sabbath. The very fact this is not the most important story of the morning, or the day up to now, ought to let you know simply how normalized anti-Semitic motion is changing into.https://t.co/NcDLqTpWD6

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) January 11, 2026 As my colleague, Jerry Wilson, just lately reported, after a protest by way of a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, the place roughly 200 pro-Palestinian supporters marched and chanted pro-Hamas slogans, a bunch of New York elected officers, together with Mamdani, immediately had a burst of conscience and condemned the antisemitic protest in a sequence of quite comparable statements.

The timing of the statements was curious, provided that considered one of Mamdani's first official acts was to cancel a number of of former Mayor Eric Adams's government orders, together with one associated to official motion in opposition to antisemitic exercise.

ALSO READ: All at As soon as, New York Democrats Ferociously Condemn Antisemitism, or One thing

In Mississippi, Beth Israel president Zach Shemper stated that harm to the constructing was nonetheless being assessed, and that providers can be indefinitely suspended. He said, “We've already had outreach from different homes of worship within the Jackson space and enormously respect their help on this very troublesome time."

One other cowardly assault on Judaism within the USA. Thank God no person was damage. And because of the police for already apprehending a suspect. Motive unknown says the media.

— Tim Kane, PhD (@TimmerKane) January 11, 2026 [Correction: In a previous version of this story, the headline stated that Beth Israel was the only synagogue in Mississippi. It has since been corrected to reflect that it is the only synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi. We regret the error.]

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