Mississippi’s Largest Synagogue Torched, Suspect Arrested
An arrest has been made after a fire severely damaged Mississippi’s largest synagogue early Saturday morning before dawn.
Mississippi today reports that the historic Jewish house of worship in northeast Jackson is the same one that the Ku Klux Klan bombed in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights.
The outlet notes that the Jackson Fire Department, the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested a suspect Saturday evening in the latest fire after firefighters ruled it an arson, according to Chief Fire Investigator Charles Felton.
The suspect’s name and possible charges have not been released. No motive has been publicly stated.
The fire was reported shortly after 3 a.m. at Congregation Beth Israel on Old Canton Road. No worshipers were injured. The outlet outlined the reported damage:
The library and administrative offices of Jackson’s only synagogue were reduced to charred ruins.
Two Torahs were destroyed and five were damaged in the flames that erupted during Shabbat, the weekly Jewish day of rest, according to temple leaders. A Torah that survived the Holocaust was in a glass case and was not damaged by the fire.
Beth Israel has suspended its services indefinitely.
“We have already had contact with other houses of worship in the Jackson area and greatly appreciate their support during this very difficult time,” congregation President Zach Shemper said in a statement.
Arson is a criminal act of intentionally setting fire to a structure, said Felton, the JFD division fire chief. Mississippi today.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed that one person had been arrested following an investigation that also included the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“Acts of anti-Semitism, racism and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against the safety of residents and freedom of worship,” Horhn said in a statement seen by The Associated Press.
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