The suspect, Stephen Spencer Pittman, told law enforcement in an interview that Beth Israel Congregation was "the synagogue of Satan," an FBI affidavit said.

A person was taken into custody late Saturday after a fire ripped through a synagogue in Mississippi, heavily damaging the historic house of worship in what authorities say was an act of arson.

Charles Felton, Jackson Fire Department chief of fire investigations, told NPR in an interview on Sunday that flames and smoke caused extensive damage and destroyed Beth Israel's library, where he say...