The man suspected of setting fire toa Mississippi synagoguetold law enforcement officers he targeted it because of its "Jewish ties," the FBI said in court documents filed Monday.
Authorities have charged Stephen Spencer Pittman with maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive, federal investigators said.
Pittman confessed to lighting a fire inside the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, the FBI said in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Mississippi. In an interview with law enforcement officers, the affidavit says, Pittman characterized the house of worship as a "synagogue of Satan."
The fire swept through the synagogue just after 3 a.m. Saturday. No one was injured in the blaze. Security camera footage released Monday shows a masked and hooded person pouring gasoline inside what appears to be the building's lobby.
Pittman said he broke a window at the synagogue with an axe, poured gas inside the building and used a torch lighter to start the blaze, according to investigators.
The FBI said it recovered a hand torch found at the scene by a member of the congregation, as well as a charred cellphone believed to belong to Pittman. He texted his father while he was carrying out the attack, according to the affidavit.
"Pittman laughed as he told his father what he did and said he finally got them," the FBI said in the affidavit. Pittman's father, identified in the document by the initials S.P., contacted the FBI and reported his son's alleged confession.
In a statement, the chief executive of one of the nation's leading antisemitism watchdogs decried the arson.
"We are thankful no one was injured, but this wasn't random vandalism — it was a deliberate, targeted attack on the Jewish community," Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League saidin a statement posted on X.
"We stand with Beth Israel and Jackson's Jewish community. An attack on any synagogue is an attack on all Jews," he wrote in part. "We will not be intimidated. We will not be silent."
Greenblatt also alluded to a dark chapter in Beth Israel Congregation's 166-year history.
The synagogue was bombed by Ku Klux Klan members Sept. 18, 1967, in part because the rabbi at the time, Perry Nusbaum, had been an "outspoken voice against racism and segregation," according to its website.
Two months later, the KKK bombed Nussbaum's house, according to the synagogue. He and his wife were home at the time, but no one was seriously hurt.
"These bombings helped to galvanize Jackson's white community, who realized that resistance to integration had gone too far," the website says. "Since then, members of Beth Israel have played a vital part in building a more racially just society in Jackson."
In an interview with Mississippi Public Broadcasting, the president of the congregation said members have established a rebuilding fund.
"We are resilient people and with the support of our community, we are going to rebuild," Zach Schemper said. "We've been a congregation and this has been our spiritual home here in Jackson for over 160 years."
