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FBI: Suspect in Mississippi synagogue fire targeted house of worship because of its ‘Jewish ties’
Stephen Spencer Pittman, 19, admitted targeting the Jackson synagogue due to its Jewish ties, with antisemitic incidents rising 893% in the past decade, FBI said.
- Stephen Spencer Pittman was charged Monday with maliciously damaging a building by fire after a blaze ripped through Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday.
- In an affidavit filed Monday, the FBI said Stephen Spencer Pittman confessed to setting the fire because of the building's Jewish ties, with the suspect's father reporting the confession and phone data corroborating it.
- Security camera footage released Monday shows a masked person pouring liquid from a gas can inside the lobby, while investigators recovered a burned cell phone and hand torch after Pittman used an ax, removed his license plate and ignited the fire with a torch lighter.
- The fire badly damaged the historic synagogue's library and administrative offices, five Torahs were assessed for smoke damage, two were destroyed, and yellow police tape and memorial flowers marked the scene Monday.
- The midcentury building housed the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, serving 13 southern states, and Beth Israel, founded 1860, was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1967.
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Corvallis Gazette Times+3 Reposted by 3 other sources
FBI says arson suspect admits to antisemitism
JACKSON, Miss. — A suspect in an arson fire at a historic Mississippi synagogue admitted to targeting the house of worship because of its "Jewish ties" and was turned in to authorities by his father who saw burn marks on…
Synagogue Is Vandalized Days After Anniversary of L.A. Wildfire That Leveled It
Last week, members of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center gathered to remember the devastating wildfire that burned down the synagogue’s campus and much of the surrounding community of Altadena one year ago. On Sunday, they felt another kind of grief when a member of the congregation drove by the site and discovered anti-Zionist graffiti scrawled on an exterior wall, synagogue leaders said Monday. Rabbi Joshua Ratner said in an interview that …
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Total News Sources74
Leaning Left12Leaning Right8Center39Last UpdatedBias Distribution66% Center
Bias Distribution
- 66% of the sources are Center
66% Center
L 20%
C 66%
14%
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