Stephen Spencer Pittman, 19, has been charged with starting a fire inside the Beth Israel Congregation synagogue, located in the state capital, Jackson.
Security camera footage shows a masked person, alleged to be Pittman, using a gas container to light the fire in the building’s lobby.
Pittman, who has reportedly admitted to starting the fire, allegedly told investigators the synagogue is a “synagogue of Satan.”
Reacting to the synagogue attack, Washington Times columnist Robert Knight said the “ugly face” of antisemitism can emerge anywhere, even in a conservative, Bible belt state such as Mississippi.
"I'm a Christian who supports Israel, who supports America's Jews, and has Jewish friends,” Knight tells AFN.
“I'm very concerned about the rise in antisemitism,” he adds. “I hope the federal government puts a lot of resources into crushing it and prosecuting anyone who makes Jews feel like their lives are threatened in this country."
