Authorities arrested a suspect Saturday night after a fire gutted Mississippi’s largest synagogue in what investigators ruled an arson.
The blaze broke out shortly after 3 a.m. at Beth Israel Congregation on Old Canton Road in Jackson, as reported by Mississippi Today. The Jackson Fire Department, FBI, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made the arrest hours after the fire department determined someone intentionally set the fire.
Investigators have not released the suspect’s name or potential charges. They also have not determined whether the attack was a hate crime. (RELATED: Police On Hunt For Person Who Threw Rock At School Full Of Children, Splitting Open Little Girl’s Skull)
The fire destroyed the library and administrative offices of Jackson’s only Jewish house of worship. Flames consumed two Torahs and damaged five others. One Torah that survived the Holocaust remained unharmed inside a glass case.
No congregants were injured. The synagogue has suspended services indefinitely.
We are outraged by the arson attack that severely damaged Beth Israel Congregation, the largest synagogue in Mississippi.
While no one was hurt, the synagogue was extensively damaged, several Torah scrolls were destroyed, and the congregation— the only synagogue in Jackson —… pic.twitter.com/CkPqLLFMeR
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) January 11, 2026
“We have already had outreach from other houses of worship in the Jackson area and greatly appreciate their support in this very difficult time,” congregation president Zach Shemper said in a statement.
The attack targeted the same synagogue the Ku Klux Klan bombed in 1967 because its rabbi supported civil rights. That explosion also damaged the administrative offices and library.
Mayor John Horhn said he spoke with Shemper and hoped for a “swift resolution as to the origin of these actions.”
“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,” Horhn said.
The 70-year-old mayor said he recalls the 1967 attack and the alliances that Jewish and Black communities formed to fight racism and injustice.
Chief fire investigator Charles Felton said firefighters initially responded to a report of a “church fire.” When crews could not determine the origin of the flames, arson investigators collected video surveillance from the scene.
Congregant David Edelstein arrived for Saturday morning services unaware of the fire. He helped assess the damage and discovered a prayer book lying open to the Shema, one of Judaism’s most sacred prayers.
“Everything’s charred and stuff, but one of the books was on top, opened up right to that,” he said.
