Stephen Pittman charged in Mississippi synagogue arson at Beth Israel
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A suspect accused of setting fire to a Mississippi synagogue once bombed by the Ku Klux Klan admitted he targeted the building because it was a Jewish house of worship and was turned over to police after a ludicrous confession to his father, the FBI said Monday.
Stephen Pittman, 19, was charged in federal court with willful destruction or destruction of a building by fire or explosive in connection with a weekend arson at Congregation Beth Israel in Jackson.
According to the FBI affidavit, Pittman admitted to lighting the fire inside the synagogue and called it “the Devil’s synagogue.” Authorities said Pittman’s father contacted the FBI after seeing burns on Pittman’s ankles, hands and face and hearing his son admit to setting fire to the building.
“Pittman laughed as he told his father what he was doing and said he ended up taking them,” the FBI said in the document. WLBT-TV.
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This photo provided by Congregation Beth Israel shows damage sustained during a fire at Congregation Beth Israel in Jackson, Miss., on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (Congregation Beth Israel via AP)
Pittman made his first appearance in U.S. District Court on Monday via video shot from a hospital bed, where both 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.”
Following the fire, services in the synagogue were stopped indefinitely. (Beth Israel)
Pittman told the judge that he was a high school graduate who had completed three semesters of college. He is scheduled to return to court Jan. 20 for a preliminary hearing and detention hearing.
The fire broke out shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday. No congregants or firefighters were injured, but the fire caused extensive damage to the synagogue’s library and administrative offices.
Congregation Beth Israel in Jackson is the state’s largest synagogue. No congregants were injured, officials said. (Beth Israel)
Security footage released by the congregation shows a masked, hooded man pouring liquid from a gas can onto the floor and onto a couch in the building’s lobby. Investigators said Pittman had previously stopped at a gas station to get gas and removed his vehicle’s license plate. He allegedly broke a window with an axe, poured fuel inside the synagogue and ignited it with a torch lighter.
The affidavit stated that Pittman texted his father a photo of the synagogue before the fire and wrote, “There’s a bakery in the back.” When his father called him to come home, Pittman allegedly said it was “time for a homerun” and added, “I did my research.”
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Investigators later recovered a burned cell phone believed to belong to Pittman and a flashlight found by a congregant.
Boards cover the charred remains of the Beth Israel Congregation library, which was set on fire early Saturday morning, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Jackson, Mississippi. (AP Photo / Sophie Bates)
Five Torah scrolls in the sanctuary were being evaluated for smoke damage. Two Torahs stored in the synagogue library were destroyed. The community said that another Torah, a Holocaust survivor, was protected behind glass and was not damaged.
The 165-year-old synagogue is the largest synagogue in the state and was previously bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1960s.
“This news puts a face and a name to this tragedy, but it does not change our resolve to proudly, even defiantly, maintain Jewish life in Jackson in the face of hatred,” Congregation Beth Israel said in a statement. he said.
In a statement made through the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that she had instructed prosecutors to seek “severe penalties”.
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“This heinous act of anti-Semitic violence has no place in our country, and unlike the previous administration, this Department of Justice will not allow anti-Semitism to grow and thrive,” Bondi said. he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
