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Arson investigators on Wednesday asked the public to help them identify a man they believe started a fire in a Jewish synagogue in Central Austin on Halloween night.
Austin firefighters said the man was seen on a security video on Sunday night carrying a 5-gallon fuel container as he entered the Beth Israel Congregation campus, a Reformed Jewish temple at 3901 Shoal Creek Blvd.
Then he left the synagogue, which was still carrying the container, and drove away in what appeared to be a 2017 Jeep compass, authorities said.
Austin firefighters who responded at around 9:05 p.m. Sunday quickly put out the outside fire that was contained on the doors and portico of the sanctuary, officials said. Nobody was injured.
The FBI has also opened an investigation into the crime, according to Beth Israel Congregation Rabbi Steve Folberg and Temple President Lori Adelman in an update sent to temple members.
Folberg and Adelman said the synagogue would take weeks to reopen due to smoke damage, adding that the large wooden doors to the sanctuary were irreparably burned.
“Since the time to make our sanctuary habitable is measured in weeks rather than days, we will look for alternative ways to gather on our campus,” the statement said.
The fire was one of several anti-Semitic incidents that have occurred in Travis County over the past two weekends.
The first of these incidents occurred on October 22nd at Anderson High School in West Austin, where students showed up on a campus that was destroyed with multiple swastikas, messages of homophobic language and racial slurs against the black community.
The second incident occurred on October 23, when about a dozen people displayed a hateful banner from an overpass on North MoPac Boulevard.
Some members of the same hate group also traveled to East Sixth Street to display similar anti-Semitic posters. These members also reached out to blacks and Hispanic Americans and made statements about the Jewish community that were untrue, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a national group that monitors anti-Semitic activity.
In response to the recent spate of anti-Semitic incidents, more than two dozen religious leaders and clergymen from across Austin were rally called on for unity by community leaders on Monday.
Nonprofit Interfaith Action of Central Texas organized a meeting for the congregation at the B’nai Abraham Synagogue – the oldest synagogue building in Texas – in northwest Austin to defend against the actions against the Jewish community.
More than 500 people, including academic and civic leaders, clergymen, and business leaders, are committed to continuing to work together to seek a peaceful and safe community where everyone is valued.
“These expressions of solidarity were a source of strength for all of our staff and volunteers who have to face the practical and emotional demands of healing our community from this attack,” said the statement by Folberg and Adelman on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Austin city council member Alison Alter said she supported a resolution condemning anti-Semitism.
Investigators have asked anyone with information about the Central Austin synagogue fire to call 512-974-0240.
State reporter Luz Moreno-Lozano contributed to this article.
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https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/11/03/officials-need-help-identifying-arson-suspect-austin-synagogue-fire-beth-israel/6264686001/
