Yesterday, a federal jury in Gulfport, Mississippi, convicted Stefan Day Rowold on six counts of federal arson and civil rights charges for vandalizing and setting fire to a house of worship.
On July 5, 2024, and July 7, 2024, Rowold vandalized and set fire to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Wiggins, Mississippi. Evidence at trial showed that Rowold targeted the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because of his disagreement with what he believed to be their religious views. During a confession, Rowold admitted to breaking into the building, vandalizing the interior walls of the building with hateful messages, and ultimately setting a fire in the middle of the church’s multipurpose room so they could not hold services. Rowold used the church’s hymnals as kindling for his original fire.
Rowold also confessed to breaking into the building two days later to finish the job, and after police had attempted to secure the scene. The second time he broke in, Rowold set another fire using cardboard and a piece of firewood.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Lemon for the Southern District of Mississippi, and Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff of the FBI Jackson Field Office made the announcement.
A sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 14, 2026. Rowold faces a minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison on each of the arson charges, a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison for each of the civil rights charges, and a minimum penalty of ten years in prison for the use of fire to commit a federal felony offense.
The FBI Jackson Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Mississippi State Fire Marshal, and the Wiggins Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Buckner for the Southern District of Mississippi and Trial Attorney Chloe Neely of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.