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, 19, of Madison, 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.
Near the entry of Beth Israel on Monday afternoon, a guard stood wearing a neon vest, monitoring cars that pulled in.
The smell of char hung in the air as children from a nearby school boarded a bus.
One man wearing a mask and gloves could be seen departing the building, as a few observers stood off to the side in a parking lot.
"Don't let anybody else in the building," Zach Shemper, the synagogue's president instructed before departing for an initial hearing for the suspect charged in the alleged arson.
Pittman appeared virtually for a hearing in U.S. District Court in downtown Jackson on Monday.
Pittman listened as U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Harris explained his charges and the potential penalties if found guilty.
"Yes, sir. I understand exactly," Pittman said, after Harris went through the charges.
The Justice Department said the federal charge carries a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years if convicted.
Prosecutors have asked that Pittman be detained, records show. A detention hearing was also scheduled for Jan. 20, and in the meantime, Harris ordered Pittman remanded into the custody of U.S. marshals.
Pittman self-admitted into the University of Mississippi Medical Center with non-life-threatening burn injuries and taken into custody," Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves'office said Monday.
Pittman's attorney at Monday's hearing said that Pittman was expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday.
FBI Director Kash Patel in a statement Monday said the arson was unacceptable.
"Every American has a fundamental right to live and worship free from violence and fear," Patel said.
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," Schemper said. "We've been a congregation and this has been our spiritual home here in Jackson for over 160 years."
