Stephen Spencer Pittman, 19, of Madison, Mississippi, was charged by superseding indictment Monday, Feb. 10, with civil rights and arson offenses related to the burning of the Beth Israel Congregation and the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life building.
According to court documents from his arrest, Pittman is alleged to have used gasoline to set fire to the religious building in the early morning hours of Saturday, Jan. 10. The fire resulted in extensive damage to a significant portion of the building and rendered it inoperable for an indefinite period time.
“The Department of Justice will not tolerate attacks on houses of worship,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This superseding indictment shows that we will investigate and we will prosecute such vicious attacks that strike at the core of our country’s long tradition of religious liberty.”
“I applaud our law enforcement partners for their swift response to this heinous act of hate-fueled violence,” said U.S. Attorney J.E. Baxter Kruger for the Southern District of Mississippi. “We Americans should not fear for our safety because of our faith. Yesterday’s superseding indictment demonstrates our commitment to that cause.”
According to its website, the Beth Israel Congregation was founded in 1860, and it has operated in its present location since 1967. On Sept. 18, 1967, the then-new temple on Old Canton Road was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan. The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life provides services to Jewish communities in 13 states and comprehensive religious school programs to 70 Jewish congregations and offers traveling rabbinical services.
Pittman was charged in the three-count indictment with violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(i), which prohibits arson of property used in interstate commerce or used in an activity affecting interstate commerce, Title 18, United States Code, Section 247, which prohibits damaging or destroying religious real property because of the character of that property, and Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(h), which prohibits the use of fire during the commission of a federal felony.
The FBI, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Jackson Police Department, and Jackson Fire Department are investigating the case.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Allen and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Buckner for the Southern District of Mississippi and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Taylor Payne.
A criminal indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.