The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Sunday condemned the arson attack on the building of the Beth Israel Congregation and Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, Mississippi’s largest synagogue. The suspect, Stephen Spencer Pittman, 19, allegedly set the synagogue on fire early Saturday.

The ADL’s South Central Regional Office issued the statement saying it was “horrified” by the attack, but thankful that no one was injured. The office especially noted that the Ku Klux Klan bombed the same synagogue in 1967 because of Rabbi Perry Nussbaum’s civil rights advocacy, emphasizing that the latest arson was “particularly painful and disturbing.”

ADL CEO Johnathan Greenblatt reposted the office’s statement on X (Twitter), calling it a reminder that antisemitic violence is rising and calling on everyone to condemn it.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center also condemned the arson. Its statement described the arson as “not just an attack on a building. It was an assault on the heart of Jewish life in the South, and on a legacy shaped in partnership with the Black community through the long, unfinished struggle for civil rights.” The Simon Wiesenthal Center is a Jewish human rights organization focused on global advocacy.

The FBI arrested Pittman and he appeared in federal court for the first time on Monday. Pittman is being charged under 18 USC 844(i). This criminal statute prohibits arson of a property used in interstate commerce or any activity affecting it. The criminal complaint alleges that Pittman admitted to setting the fire because of the synagogue’s “Jewish ties.” Attorney General Pamela Bondi, US Attorney JE Baxter Kruger for the Southern District of Mississippi, and Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff of the FBI Jackson Field Office announced the arrest together, each condemning the violence.

Pittman faces between 5 and 20 years in prison if convicted.