Homeless Man Who Burned Down Minnesota Synagogue Charged With ‘Negligent Fires’
Adas Israel Congregation ablaze, Sept. 9, 2019. Image by KBJR/YouTube
(JTA) — The homeless man charged with setting fire to a historic synagogue in northern Minnesota was sheltering in an alcove between the building and its sukkah.
Matthew James Amiot, 36, used a lighter to set fire to what the criminal complaint said was “a variety of combustible materials” early on the morning of September 9 outside of the Adas Israel Synagogue in Duluth, Minnesota. Two minutes later he is seen on surveillance video walking away from the building.
Police say Amiot admitted to starting the fire and said he then tried to spit on it to put it out, but walked away when he was unsuccessful, the Star-Tribune reported citing the complaint.
Amiot, who was arrested Friday and jailed on suspicion of first-degree arson, was officially charged during a hearing St. Louis County District Court on Monday with one felony count of negligent fires and a gross misdemeanor count of negligent fires resulting in a human being injured.
A firefighter identified as Ben Gasner was hit by falling debris and knocked unconscious during efforts to put out the blaze.
He faces a maximum of three years in prison for the felony charge and a year in jail for the misdemeanor charge.
Judge Eric Hylden set bail at $20,000.
Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken said during a news conference on Sunday that Amiot has previous convictions for misdemeanor shoplifting and trespassing. Tusken also said that there is no evidence that the arson was a bias or hate crime, but added that “This may change as this investigation progresses.”
The nearly 120-year-old synagogue was deemed a total loss, with damage to property estimated to be at least $117,000 for the structure and at least $250,000 for religious items, according to the newspaper.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Fast Forward Long Island synagogue cancels Ben-Gvir talk amid wide tensions over whether to host him
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to a Jewish society at Yale exposed deep rifts between US Jews
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.