Stephen Pittman charged in Mississippi synagogue arson at Beth Israel

A suspect accused of setting fire to a Mississippi synagogue once bombed by the Ku Klux Klan admitted he targeted the building because it is a Jewish house of worship and was turned into police after a laughing confession to his father, the FBI said Monday.

Stephen Pittman, 19, was charged in federal court with maliciously damaging or destroying a building by fire or explosive in connection with the weekend arson at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson.

According to an FBI affidavit, Pittman admitted to lighting the fire inside the synagogue, referring to it as “the synagogue of Satan.” Authorities said Pittman’s father contacted the FBI after he observed burns on Pittman’s ankles, hands and face, and hearing his son confess to setting the building on fire.

“Pittman laughed as he told his father what he did and said he finally got them,” the FBI said in the document, according to WLBT-TV.

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Pittman made his first appearance Monday in U.S. District Court via video from a hospital bed, where both of his hands were visibly bandaged. A public defender was appointed to represent him.

Prosecutors said Pittman faces five to 20 years in prison if convicted. When the judge advised him of his rights, Pittman responded, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Pittman told the judge he is a high school graduate who completed three semesters of college. He is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 20 for a preliminary and detention hearing.

The fire broke out shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday. No congregants or firefighters were injured, but the blaze caused extensive damage to the synagogue’s library and administrative offices.

Security footage released by the congregation shows a masked, hooded individual pouring liquid from a gas can onto the floor and a couch inside the building’s lobby. Investigators said Pittman stopped at a gas station beforehand to buy gasoline and removed his vehicle’s license plate. He allegedly used an ax to break a window, poured fuel inside the synagogue and ignited it with a torch lighter.

The affidavit said Pittman texted his father a photo of the synagogue before the fire, writing, “There’s a furnace in the back.” When his father urged him to come home, Pittman allegedly replied that he was “due for a homerun” and said, “I did my research.”

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

Five Torah scrolls inside the sanctuary were being evaluated for smoke damage. Two Torahs stored in the synagogue’s library were destroyed. Another Torah that survived the Holocaust was protected behind glass and was not damaged, the congregation said.

The 165-year-old synagogue is the largest one in the state and was previously bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1960s.

“This news puts a face and name to this tragedy, but does not change our resolve to proudly — even defiantly — continue Jewish life in Jackson in the face of hatred,” Beth Israel Congregation said in a statement.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi that she has directed prosecutors to seek “severe penalties.”

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“This disgusting act of anti-Semitic violence has no place in our country, and unlike the prior administration, this Department of Justice will not let anti-Semitism fester and flourish,” Bondi said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.