A suspect is under arrest for an act of arson that significantly damaged Mississippi’s largest synagogue early Saturday morning, authorities reported. 

Local law enforcement arrested a suspect whom they believe purposefully set fire to Beth Israel Congregation shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday, Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed. The suspect’s name and motive have not been disclosed.

Beth Israel Congregation is the only synagogue in Jackson, the state’s capital and most populous city. The historic building also houses the offices of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which supports Jewish life in the region.   

Located in a major hub of the Civil Rights Movement, Beth Israel was bombed in 1967 by the Ku Klux Klan over the rabbi’s support for racial justice — including providing chaplain services to activists incarcerated for challenging segregated bussing in the state. 

No congregants were injured in Saturday’s blaze. Two Torah scrolls were destroyed in the fire, and five more were damaged. A Torah that survived the Holocaust, which was kept in a glass case, was unharmed. The congregation’s library and administrative office were ruined, and the congregation has canceled services indefinitely. 

“We have already had outreach from other houses of worship in the Jackson area and greatly appreciate their support in this very difficult time,” the synagogue president, Zach Shemper, said in a statement. About 3,000 Jews live in Mississippi, comprising 0.1% of its 3 million residents. The southern state is home to around a dozen synagogues.  

While police and the FBI have not yet determined the suspect’s motive, the arson comes as antisemitic hate crimes in the U.S. reached a record high in 2024 since the FBI started tracking data in 1991. 

The incident drew condemnation from elected officials and Jewish leaders. 

“Acts of antisemitism, racism and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as threats to our residents’ safety and freedom to worship,” Horhn said in a statement. “Targeting people because of their faith, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation is morally wrong, un-American and incompatible with the values of this city.”

“I would hope that all Mississippians and all Jacksonians would commit themselves toward moving beyond such behavior and activity and find a way where we can all get together and get along,” continued Horhn, who said he remembers the 1967 attack, which occurred when he was 12.  

“Our hearts are with the members of Beth Israel Congregation. We stand together with them as do all the caring people of Mississippi. We denounce violence and find attacks on places of worship especially despicable,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) said in a statement. 

“Regardless of the findings of the investigation, this is what it means to be Jewish in America right now: antisemitic violence and attacks on synagogues and Jews are so common that they barely register beyond local news, and the people most often naming it, mourning it, and sounding the alarm are Jews themselves,” Sheila Katz, chief Jewish life officer at Jewish Federations of North America, wrote on social media. 

“It also means this: the Jewish community in Mississippi will come together. They will support one another and be supported by Jews they don’t know around the country and the world. They will rebuild. They will continue to celebrate Jewish holidays and live Jewish life with joy,” Katz continued.

“Waking to the news of an arson attack on a Mississippi synagogue feels all too familiar. This description is chilling. We stand with the Jackson community,” said Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee.  

“Grateful that law enforcement has apprehended a suspect,” Deutch continued. “Glad the Mayor has spoken out. Now will you touch base with your Jewish friends, neighbors and co-workers?  Let them know that you understand this attack in Jackson is an attack on them as well. Tell them you stand with the Jewish community. It will mean more than you know.” 

“The fact that this historic synagogue … has once again been targeted is particularly painful and disturbing. We will continue to monitor the situation closely,” said Lindsay Baach Friedmann, regional director of Anti-Defamation League South Central.  

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, called on leaders “to speak out, stand with the Jewish community in meaningful ways, and work to build strong coalitions and advance holistic approaches to counter hate, violence, and extremism wherever it exists. This crisis threatens Jews, all communities, and our democracy — and until it’s treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves, none of us will be safe,” she said.

“Domestic terrorism against Jews never happens in a vacuum,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), a staunch ally of the Jewish community, said in a statement. “Instead of extinguishing the fires of antisemitism, American politics is often guilty of fanning the flames.”

Deborah Lipstadt, the former State Department special antisemitism envoy, called the arson attack “another step in the globalization of the intifada.”