Man charged in arson attack on Mississippi synagogue: US officials

A 19-year-old Mississippi man appeared in court Monday to face charges over an alleged arson attack on a synagogue, federal and local authorities said. 

This same synagogue, whose congregation dates back to 1860, was bombed by the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan in 1967 during volatile and racially charged times in the American Deep South.

Federal officials identified Stephen Spencer Pittman as the lone suspect in the attack on the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, the state capital, in the early-morning hours of Saturday.

Pittman used gasoline to set the synagogue on fire, causing significant damage to administrative and library areas, according to statements from the US Department of Justice and the governor's office. 

While committing the act, he suffered burns to parts of his body, the DOJ said. No one else was reported injured.

"This disgusting act of anti-Semitic violence has no place in our country," US Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

"I have directed my prosecutors to seek severe penalties for this heinous act and remain deeply committed to protecting Jewish Americans from hatred," she added. 

Pittman was charged with arson, the governor's office said.

He was taken into custody after he checked himself into the University of Mississippi Medical Center with non-life-threatening burns, the governor's office said.