A Mississippi grand jury has indicted a 19-year-old man with arson and hate crime costs stemming from a fire at the only synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, an act investigators allege the suspect confessed to committing due to the constructing’s “Jewish ties.”
Hinds County, Mississippi, District Lawyer Jody Owens II introduced on Tuesday that Stephen Spencer Pittman was indicted by a state grand jury on a first-degree arson cost with a hate crime enhancement.
The fireplace early Saturday morning triggered important harm to the Beth Israel Congregation synagogue and is “alleged to have been motivated by spiritual hatred, elevating the case to probably the most critical arson prosecutions accessible beneath Mississippi legislation,” Owens stated in a press release.
Warning tape and flowers cowl the doorway to the Beth Israel Congregation, a synagogue that was set on hearth, January 10, 2026, in Jackson, Miss.
Sophie Bates/AP
“Crimes motivated by hate and directed at locations of worship strike on the core of who we’re as a neighborhood and on the elementary proper to worship freely and safely,” Owens stated. “Mississippi legislation treats these offenses with the seriousness they demand, together with enhanced penalties when bias is concerned.”
Owens added that the indictment displays “our dedication to implementing these legal guidelines totally and making certain that acts supposed to intimidate or terrorize spiritual communities are met with decisive accountability.”
If convicted, Spencer faces a jail sentence of as much as 60 years, Owens stated.
Harm sustained throughout a fireplace, Jan. 10, 2026, at Beth Israel Congregation, in Jackson, Miss.
Beth Israel Congregation by way of AP
The state costs have been introduced a day after federal prosecutors charged Pittman with arson of property utilized in interstate commerce or utilized in an exercise affecting interstate commerce.
Pittman allegedly laughed concerning the synagogue assault when confronted by his father, telling his dad “he lastly bought them” and referring to the place of worship because the “synagogue of Devil,” in line with an FBI affidavit filed within the federal case.
The fireplace occurred round 3 a.m. on Saturday on the historic Beth Israel Congregation temple in Jackson, the identical synagogue that was bombed in 1967 by the Ku Klux Klan, officers stated. The FBI stated the constructing additionally homes the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL).
“The ISJL operates in interstate and overseas commerce because it gives providers to Jewish communities” in 13 totally different states, together with Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas, in line with the affidavit, and likewise “gives complete spiritual college applications to 70 Jewish congregations and provides touring rabbinical providers,” most of which “are delivered in states exterior the State of Mississippi.”
Harm sustained throughout a fireplace, Jan. 10, 2026, at Beth Israel Congregation, in Jackson, Miss.
Beth Israel Congregation by way of AP
Pittman’s father contacted the FBI and “suggested his son confessed to setting the constructing on hearth,” in line with the affidavit, and allegedly despatched textual content messages to his father concerning the blaze, saying he was “due for a homerun” and “I did my analysis,” in line with the affidavit.
Pittman allegedly admitted to stopping to buy gasoline, taking his license plate off of his automotive, breaking a window on the synagogue, pouring the gasoline inside the constructing and utilizing a torch lighter to start out the fireplace, in line with the affidavit.
Harm sustained throughout a fireplace, Jan. 10, 2026, at Beth Israel Congregation, in Jackson, Miss.
Beth Israel Congregation by way of AP
“Pittman was recognized as an individual of curiosity and finally confessed to lighting a fireplace contained in the constructing as a result of constructing’s Jewish ties,” the affidavit stated.
Safety video from contained in the constructing “confirmed the fireplace was began by a person contained in the constructing within the early morning hours of January 10, 2026,” in line with the affidavit.
“A hooded particular person will be seen strolling within the inside of the constructing pouring contents from what gave the impression to be a fuel container,” the affidavit additionally stated.
Boards cowl the charred stays of the Beth Israel Congregation librarym Jan. 12, 2026, which was set on hearth early Jan. 10, 2026, in Jackson, Mississippi.
Sophie Bates/AP
Pittman allegedly despatched textual content messages to his father from the synagogue, writing that there was a “furnace” behind the constructing, that he had eliminated his license plate from his car, and that his “hoodie is on,” in line with the affidavit. He additionally allegedly famous that the synagogue has “the very best cameras,” the affidavit stated.
Pittman’s father advised authorities that later that day that when he confronted his son, he noticed burns on his son’s ankles, arms and face, in line with the affidavit.
After detaining Pittman, the FBI brokers, the Jackson Fireplace Division and Hinds County Sheriff’s Workplace investigators interviewed him. Pittman allegedly confessed to the investigator that he set hearth to the synagogue and stated that he “caught himself on hearth through the act,” the affidavit stated.
Pittman additionally allegedly advised authorities that he left his cellphone within the synagogue, the affidavit stated. The FBI later recovered a burned cellphone from the scene, which they believed to be Pittman’s, the affidavit stated.
