Suspect is indicted on federal arson charge in Mississippi synagogue attack ...Middle East

The Madison man accused of setting fire to Mississippi’s largest synagogue has now been indicted on a federal arson charge. 

The federal indictment returned Wednesday does not mean Stephen Spencer Pittman is facing a new charge, only that a grand jury has confirmed federal prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed with prosecuting the 19-year-old for burning the Beth Israel Congregation temple. 

Federal and state prosecutors have not announced how they will collaborate on Pittman’s court cases. His attorney, federal public defender Mike Scott, could not immediately be reached Thursday.  

In state court, Pittman is facing a charge of first-degree arson. Earlier this week, a Hinds County Circuit Court grand jury indicted Pittman on that charge and recommended his sentence be enhanced under a Mississippi law punishing “offenses committed for discriminatory reasons.”

The federal government has not filed hate crime charges against Pittman and it was not immediately clear whether those are being considered. He also has not made an initial appearance in state circuit court, nor has one been scheduled, according to a court administrator.

Pittman is being held in federal custody, though it was not immediately known where. 

If convicted, Pittman’s federal charges carry a punishment of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The federal charges against him were released earlier this week in an affidavit from an FBI agent that alleged Pittman broke into the northeast Jackson synagogue before dawn Saturday, doused a lobby in gasoline and set it on fire. Later that day, he allegedly confessed to law enforcement that he targeted the synagogue for its “Jewish ties.” 

The blaze charred parts of the synagogue, left smoke damage throughout and destroyed two Torahs. The fire was set in the same part of the one-story brick building that Ku Klux Klan members bombed in 1967 because the congregation’s rabbi supported civil rights. 

The Hinds County indictment did not include a photograph of Pittman. Federal authorities also have not released a photo of him.

Pittman is scheduled to return to federal court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday.

Federal investigators quickly identified Pittman – a former high school and community college baseball player –  as a person of interest, according to the affidavit filed earlier this week, which included text messages he allegedly sent to his father in the course of setting the fire Saturday. The father pleaded for his son to return home, the affidavit says, but Pittman “replied back by saying he was due for a homerun and ‘I did my research.’” 

Pittman is alleged to have confessed to his father, who later contacted the FBI and provided GPS data showing Pittman was at the synagogue early Saturday morning. 

The son “laughed as he told his father what he did and said he finally got them,” said the affidavit from Nicholas Amiano, an FBI agent in the Jackson division. 

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