FBI charges suspect in Austin synagogue arson
A fire was found outside Congregation Beth Israel in Austin, Texas Sunday, Oct. 31. (Austin Fire Department)
(JTA) — The FBI has charged a suspect already arrested on local charges relating to a fire set at a synagogue in Austin, Texas.
Franklin Barrett Sechriest, 18, was transferred to federal custody on Monday, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Investigators with the Austin fire department arrested him last week on an arson charge related to a fire at Congregation Beth Israel on Oct. 31.
The federal charge document cites alleged entries in Sechriest’s handwritten journal, including one, on the day of the attack, that said, “Scout out a target,” and another that said, after the attack, “I set a synagogue on fire.”
The journal, according to the charge sheet, includes antisemitic and racist entries and images, as well as a to-do list that includes laundry, meditation and checking out Tinder, the dating app.
According to a donation page on the synagogue’s website, the fire destroyed the synagogue’s carved wooden doors, damaged the building’s stained glass windows and caused smoke damage throughout the sanctuary.
—
The post FBI charges suspect in Austin synagogue arson appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
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 the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
