- A Texas man pleaded guilty to a hate crime for setting fire to a synagogue in Austin in 2021.
- Franklin Sechriest, 20, admitted in his journal that he set the house of worship ablaze.
A Texas man has pleaded guilty to charges of arson and hate crimes, admitting to setting fire to a Jewish synagogue in Austin in 2021. His guilty plea came during the major Jewish holiday of Passover.
Franklin Sechriest, a 20-year-old from San Marcos, admitted to setting fire to the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue on Oct. 31, 2021, according to a Justice Department press release.
He first confessed in a journal entry discovered by police and was caught on surveillance video entering the synagogue with toilet paper and a 5-gallon container just before the building went up in flames.
"I set a synagogue on fire," Sechriest wrote in his journal, according to the Justice Department.
Investigators found that Sechriest drove to the parking lot outside the synagogue's sanctuary in the days leading up to the arson in order to "scout out a target," the Justice Department said.
"Sechriest admitted that he targeted the synagogue because of his hatred of Jews, and his journals were replete with virulent antisemitic statements and views," the Justice Department said. "Sechriest also possessed several decals and stickers expressing antisemitic messages."
Sechriest is due for sentencing on June 23 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Repairs to the church cost hundreds of thousands, and the community is still working to heal, according to the local KUT 90.5 news radio station.
"No one here is cheering that this happened and that there is a guilty plea," Congregation member Lori Adelman told the outlet. "We're just trying to figure out how we ... move forward and stay strong and become stronger."