The trial for the man accused of intentionally setting fire to Mississippi’s oldest synagogue has been moved to Aug. 3.
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate on Monday approved a motion by Stephen Spencer Pittman’s legal team to delay the defendant’s trial. Attorneys representing Pittman, who is accused of burning Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson back in January, requested additional time to review their client’s charges and to go over discovery materials. The request was unopposed by prosecutors.
Pittman, a Madison native, pleaded not guilty to federal charges linked to his alleged role in setting the synagogue ablaze. The U.S. Department of Justice initially charged him with arson, later elevating the charge to include a civil rights offense. Pittman also faces an additional charge of first-degree arson with a hate crime enhancement on the state level. He was set to stand federal trial in April.
If convicted on the federal level, he could face up to 60 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A graduate of St. Joseph Catholic School in Madison before going on to play baseball at Coahoma Community College, Pittman confessed to breaking into Beth Israel, dousing areas of the synagogue with gasoline, and setting fire to the place of worship, the FBI said. The crime was captured on video.
The defendant’s father turned him in shortly after the fire. According to investigators, his father is the one who gave them a picture showing his son had texted him from the crime scene. He told agents that his son confessed to setting the building on fire.
While no congregants of Beth Israel were injured during the blaze, the emotional toll has been a combination of discouragement and encouragement, according to synagogue officials. Congregation President Zach Shemper has vowed to rebuild the synagogue with rehabilitation plans recently revealed. Several area churches have been opening their doors to Beth Israel in the meantime.
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Beth Israel Congregation was established in Jackson in 1860 and is the city’s lone synagogue. The place of worship also hosts the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life. The center provides Jewish religious school programs and rabbinical services to more than 70 congregations across Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
No stranger to attacks and threats, Beth Israel was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 due to its role in the civil rights movement. In December 2023, Beth Israel was one of hundreds of synagogues across the U.S. to be subjected to bomb threats, elevating concerns of growing antisemitism across the nation.
