US EditionSuspect arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire damages a historic Mississippi synagogue
The arson destroyed multiple Torah scrolls and the synagogue’s library; a suspect was charged and federal agencies are investigating possible hate-crime motives.
- On Saturday, Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi caught fire around 3 a.m., and a suspect was arrested on suspicion of arson late Saturday, authorities said.
- Jackson Fire Department's Arson Investigation Division, working with federal partners FBI and ATF, determined the blaze was deliberately set and investigators ruled out accidental causes.
- Photos from the scene show the library and administrative offices of Beth Israel Congregation ruined, with two destroyed Torahs and five additional Torahs assessed for smoke damage.
- Services have been suspended indefinitely as Beth Israel Congregation leadership coordinates with local churches and the Institute of Southern Jewish Life for temporary worship space in the coming weeks.
- Organized in 1860 and bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1967, Beth Israel Congregation's targeting comes amid rising antisemitic hate crimes nationwide reaching record highs in 2024.
158 Articles
158 Articles
A baseball player and honor student: What we know about the teen who confessed to burning Mississippi’s oldest synagogue
Hours before a destructive arson fire at the oldest synagogue in Mississippi, the 19-year-old suspect posted an antisemitic meme on Instagram, an account that appears to belong to him shows.
Radicalizing Americans & the New Normal
The 19-year-old who torched the largest synagogue in Mississippi was a normal kid. He used to tweet about baseball and went to church. According to Mississippi Today, Steven Pittman was a “was a multi-year honor roll student and varsity baseball player at St. Joseph Catholic School in Madison.’ He was playing baseball in college, and […] The post Radicalizing Americans & the New Normal appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.
Rep. Bennie Thompson Said the Fire at a Local Synagogue May Have Been Politically Motivated
Rep. Bennie Thompson speaks during a hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security on Capitol Hill, Dec. 11, 2025. Mark Schiefelbein/APRep. Bennie Thompson said that politics could have played a role in the fire set at a synagogue in his district.“With this kind of vitriol that’s going on in the country, some people take that to heart and try to weaponize it to the point of threatening people, threatening churches, burning synagogues and o…
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