An arrest has been made after a fire that broke out early Saturday morning caused extensive damage to Mississippi’s largest synagogue.
mississippi today The historic synagogue in northeast Jackson is the same one that was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights, according to reports.
The outlet notes that the Jackson Fire Department, the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested a suspect in the latest blaze Saturday night, according to chief fire investigator Charles Felton, as the fire department ruled it arson.
The suspect’s name or the charges the man faces have not been released. No motive has been publicly notified.
The fire was reported just after 3 a.m. at Beth Israel Congregation on Old Canton Road. None of the congregants were injured. The outlet reported the 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 broke out during Shabbat, the Jewish weekly day of rest, according to temple leaders. One Torah that survived the Holocaust was in a glass case and was not damaged in the fire.
Beth Israel has suspended services indefinitely.
“We have already received contact from other houses of worship in the Jackson area and we greatly appreciate their support during this difficult time,” congregation President Zack Shemper said in a statement.
JFD Division Fire Chief Felton said intentionally setting a structure fire is a criminal offense. mississippi today,
Jackson Mayor John Horn confirmed that one person was taken into custody following an investigation that also included the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“The acts of anti-Semitism, 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,” Horn said in a statement seen by The Associated Press.
