Suspect arrested after arson damages historic Mississippi synagogue

Congregants and leaders vowed to rebuild a heavily damaged Mississippi synagogue after a suspect was taken into custody for what authorities said Sunday was an act of arson.

The fire ripped through the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. No congregants were injured in the blaze.

Photos showed the charred remains of an administrative office and synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged.

Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed that a person was taken into custody after an investigation that included the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

“Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship,” Horhn said in a statement.

He did not provide the name of the suspect or the charges that the person is facing. A spokesperson for the Jackson FBI office said it was “working with law enforcement partners on this investigation.”

The synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 — a response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, according to the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, whose office is housed in the building.

“That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life,” said CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson, in a Facebook post.

“This wasn’t random vandalism — it was a deliberate, targeted attack on the Jewish community,” Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.

“That it has been attacked again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone,” Greenblatt said.

The congregation is still assessing the damage and received outreach from other houses of worship, said Michele Schipper, chief executive of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and past president of the congregation. The synagogue will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, the weekly Jewish Sabbath, probably at one of the local churches that reached out.

“We are a resilient people,” Beth Israel Congregation President Zach Shemper said in a statement. “With support from our community, we will rebuild.”

A Torah kept behind glass that survived the Holocaust was not damaged in the fire, Schipper said. Five Torahs inside the sanctuary are being assessed for smoke damage. Two Torahs inside the library, where the most severe damage was done, were destroyed, according to a synagogue representative.

The floors, walls and ceiling of the sanctuary are covered in soot, and the synagogue will have to replace upholstery and carpeting.

“A lot of times we hear things happening throughout the country in other parts, and we feel like this wouldn’t happen in our part,” chief fire investigator Charles Felton said. “A lot of people are in disbelief that this would happen here in Jackson, Miss.”

Kramon writes for the Associated Press.