The Mississippi State Senate adopted a bipartisan resolution on Jan. 20 in support of Beth Israel Congregation following a Jan. 10 arson attack at the Jackson synagogue.
Senate Resolution 8, which expressed full support for the congregation “and for justice following this heinous crime,” was authored by Democratic state senator David Blount and handled on the floor by Republican state senator Dean Kirby. It passed unanimously.
“Any act of arson is a serious crime,” the resolution states. “But attacking a house of worship is a particular outrage because it is not merely an attack on a building, it is an attack on the right of individuals to worship as they deem proper.”
The resolution states that the arson at the synagogue “brings to mind some of the most tragic events in the history of Mississippi.”
“It’s something we just can’t tolerate in our state,” state senator Hillman Frazier, a Democrat and co-author of the resolution, told JNS. “We have a history of violence, but I thought we were making progress. I think this act that took place in the synagogue is going to make folks look at us differently. We’ll do all we can to bring justice to the person who committed the crime.”
Stephen Spencer Pittman, 19, admitted to setting the fire intentionally “due to the building’s Jewish ties,” according to the FBI.
“We want to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law, be it jail time, fair trial,” Frazier told JNS. “We want to make sure that he pays for the act of violence.”
“Also, it’s going to be a time for us to reflect in our state in terms of where we are as people, as a nation,” he said. “We can use it as a learning tool and a building process in terms of building a better relationship in the city of Jackson and the state of Mississippi.”
Frazier told JNS he hopes this was an “isolated incident,” but that “we are going to make sure that we do all we can to safeguard our houses of worship.”
