{"id":52730,"date":"2023-04-07T14:09:28","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T21:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52730"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:09:28","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T21:09:28","slug":"texas-man-guilty-of-hate-crime-setting-fire-to-a-synagogue-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52730","title":{"rendered":"Texas Man Guilty of Hate Crime, Setting Fire to a Synagogue Last Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"field field--name-field-pr-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7857 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png 289w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo.png 636w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 289px) 100vw, 289px\" \/>A Texas man plead guilty Friday to a hate crime and arson in connection with a fire he set at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 31, 2021, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">According to court documents, three days before the arson, on Oct. 28, 2021, Franklin Sechriest of San Marcos, Texas, drove to the synagogue\u2019s parking lot outside its sanctuary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f548bcGe7BA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>(News Report 2022)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\"> According to journals recovered from Sechriest, he went there to \u201cscout out a target.\u201d Sechriest admitted that he targeted the synagogue because of his hatred of Jews, and his journals were replete with virulent antisemitic statements and views. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">Sechriest also possessed several decals and stickers expressing antisemitic messages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">The night of the arson, officials stated Sechriest drove to the synagogue and was seen on surveillance video carrying a five-gallon container and toilet paper toward the synagogue\u2019s sanctuary. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">Moments later, multiple surveillance videos captured the glow of a fire from the direction of the sanctuary. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">A security camera captured Sechriest jogging away from the direction of the fire and toward the open driver\u2019s side door of a vehicle. A concerned citizen reported the fire, and the Austin Fire Department responded quickly to extinguish it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">In Sechriest\u2019s journal, in an entry dated Oct. 31, 2021, he wrote \u201cI set a synagogue on fire.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">In the days following the arson, Sechriest\u2019s journal noted that he was actively monitoring media reports to track the progress of the investigation into the arson.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">\u201cThese hate-filled crimes not only caused damage to a Jewish place of worship, but they were intended to intimidate and undermine the well-being of the entire Jewish community,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. \u201cAntisemitic violence and violence against any person or group on account of their religion will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">\u201cOne of the FBI\u2019s highest priorities is to protect the civil rights of all Americans,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Oliver E. Rich Jr. of the FBI San Antonio Field Office. \u201cHate crimes such as this one devastate and terrorize communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">The sentencing is set for June 23. Sechriest faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">Assistant Attorney General Clarke, U.S. Attorney Esparza and Special Agent in Charge Oliver made the announcement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">The FBI and Austin Fire Department investigated the case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 20px;\">Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Devlin for the Western District of Texas and Trial Attorney Andrew Manns of the Civil Rights Division\u2019s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Texas man plead guilty Friday to a hate crime and arson in connection with a fire he set at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 31, 2021,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3255],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-federal-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Texas Man Guilty of Hate Crime, Setting Fire to a Synagogue Last Year<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Texas man plead guilty Friday to a hate crime and arson in connection with a fire he set at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Austin, Texas, on\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52730\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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