An 18-year-old college student and recent member of the Texas State Guard who is accused of setting a fire at an Austin synagogue faces a federal arson charge for the Halloween incident, according to a criminal complaint affidavit.
Franklin Barrett Sechriest, a student at Texas State University in San Marcos, allegedly lit a fire near the doors of Congregation Beth Israel that caused $25,000 worth of damage to the synagogue, according to the affidavit unsealed Monday. Sechriest was arrested last week on one count of arson after an investigation “determined that the fire was intentionally set and thus an act of arson,” according to the complaint.
Authorities say Sechriest kept stickers with Nazi propaganda and swastikas, as well as journals suggesting his disdain for Jewish people.
“I set a synagogue on fire,” he wrote in an Oct. 31 entry, according to the affidavit.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
“Arson at a sacred place of worship shakes the very foundations of our society,” U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff of the Western District of Texas said in a news release. “This Office strongly condemns the intentional act of violence alleged in the complaint and will vigorously prosecute this type of conduct to the fullest extent possible.”
Richard Lyn Cofer II, an attorney for Sechriest, did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday. A spokesperson with the Texas Military Department, which oversees the Texas State Guard, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson told the Daily Beast that Sechriest, who was a private with the Texas State Guard 6th Brigade, an unarmed and volunteer force that supplements the National Guard, resigned from the state guard this month.
The arson charge comes amid a spate of anti-Jewish attacks playing out across the United States in the past year. In May, more than two dozen instances of antisemitism were reported nationwide in a span of two weeks, according to the Anti-Defamation League and news reports. The cases included protest signs calling Zionists “Nazis,” several physical attacks, and at least four reported instances of vandalism at synagogues and Jewish community centers.
Some recent attacks have involved those opposed to coronavirus vaccine mandates using swastikas and the Star of David to voice their displeasure, with some comparing mandates to the cruelty of the Holocaust. New York State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Democratic lawmaker who is Jewish, decried the anti-vaccine mandate demonstrators who showed up outside his Bronx office this week displaying antisemitic symbols.
Protesters display swastika, Star of David outside Jewish politician’s office to oppose vaccine rules
At 9 p.m. on Halloween, Sechriest is seen on the Austin synagogue’s surveillance video walking toward the temple’s office entrance and carrying a container that appears to be a five-gallon fuel jug and a roll of toilet paper, according to the affidavit. When the fire becomes visible on camera, Sechriest is seen jogging back to his car, authorities said. Although his face is covered in the video, authorities said that he had been driving the same black 2021 Jeep Cherokee that was seen on surveillance footage nights before when he cased the synagogue.
No one was hurt in the blaze, but the front door was badly charred, synagogue leaders told the New York Times. The fire, one of a number of antisemitic acts in Central Texas in recent weeks, was condemned by faith leaders and local officials.
“Hateful acts of intimidation to incite violence is unacceptable, and we will not be silent,” Simone Talma Flowers, the executive director of Interfaith Action of Central Texas, said at a news conference this month.
When the FBI executed federal search warrants at Sechriest’s home, agents found clothes that were consistent with those worn by the person on the surveillance footage, according to the affidavit. During the search, authorities said they also found an American Express card in Sechriest’s name that had been used to buy a fuel container the previous month.
Investigators discovered that the teenager kept journals with entries that included his writing the n-word as well as reflecting on topics such as the dating app Tinder and eating at Buffalo Wild Wings. On Oct. 28, he wrote that he would “scout a target,” according to the affidavit. Three days later, the affidavit says, he wrote the entry about setting a synagogue on fire.
When the FBI searched his car, investigators found multiple glass bottles, bottles of lighter fluid, stormproof matches and a lighter — all of them items, an agent noted in the affidavit, that are used to make molotov cocktails.
Sechriest’s Jeep Cherokee also contained stickers with hateful language. One of them read, “They hate your ancestors, they hate your culture, they hate your nation, they hate your religion … it’s okay to hate them back.” Another sticker with swastikas read, “Would you kill them all to see your rights? The price of freedom is paid in blood,” according to the affidavit.
When the search had been completed, Sechriest was arrested on state charges related to the synagogue fire.
The Texas Military Department and Texas State University both denounced Sechriest’s alleged actions in statements this week.
“Our university decries this hateful act of bigotry and violence and all the antisemitic events perpetrated recently in Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos,” the university said. “The Texas State University community stands in solidarity with our Jewish students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members who have been impacted.”
Rabbi Steven Folberg, senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel for decades, told KEYE that it was reassuring that Sechriest had been detained.
“There’s a certain amount of relief for people in the Jewish community that someone who is accused of perpetrating such a violent and bigoted act is in custody,” he said. “I think that a lot people imagine that someone who would do something like this would be well into adulthood, but he’s just a college freshman and so that raises all kinds of questions about how you end up in the kind of state of mind that you have to be in to do something like this.”
The incident has also prompted donations from those supporting Congregation Beth Israel. Folberg told local media that the temple has received nearly $10,000.
“People at their best respond to tragedy and hate with love and goodness and we’re seeing a lot of that,” Folberg said.
Sechriest is to appear for a preliminary examination and detention hearing on Wednesday, authorities said.
Franklin Barrett Sechriest, a student at Texas State University in San Marcos, allegedly lit a fire near the doors of Congregation Beth Israel that caused $25,000 worth of damage to the synagogue, according to the affidavit unsealed Monday. Sechriest was arrested last week on one count of arson after an investigation “determined that the fire was intentionally set and thus an act of arson,” according to the complaint.
Authorities say Sechriest kept stickers with Nazi propaganda and swastikas, as well as journals suggesting his disdain for Jewish people.
“I set a synagogue on fire,” he wrote in an Oct. 31 entry, according to the affidavit.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
“Arson at a sacred place of worship shakes the very foundations of our society,” U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff of the Western District of Texas said in a news release. “This Office strongly condemns the intentional act of violence alleged in the complaint and will vigorously prosecute this type of conduct to the fullest extent possible.”
Richard Lyn Cofer II, an attorney for Sechriest, did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday. A spokesperson with the Texas Military Department, which oversees the Texas State Guard, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson told the Daily Beast that Sechriest, who was a private with the Texas State Guard 6th Brigade, an unarmed and volunteer force that supplements the National Guard, resigned from the state guard this month.
The arson charge comes amid a spate of anti-Jewish attacks playing out across the United States in the past year. In May, more than two dozen instances of antisemitism were reported nationwide in a span of two weeks, according to the Anti-Defamation League and news reports. The cases included protest signs calling Zionists “Nazis,” several physical attacks, and at least four reported instances of vandalism at synagogues and Jewish community centers.
Some recent attacks have involved those opposed to coronavirus vaccine mandates using swastikas and the Star of David to voice their displeasure, with some comparing mandates to the cruelty of the Holocaust. New York State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Democratic lawmaker who is Jewish, decried the anti-vaccine mandate demonstrators who showed up outside his Bronx office this week displaying antisemitic symbols.
Protesters display swastika, Star of David outside Jewish politician’s office to oppose vaccine rules
At 9 p.m. on Halloween, Sechriest is seen on the Austin synagogue’s surveillance video walking toward the temple’s office entrance and carrying a container that appears to be a five-gallon fuel jug and a roll of toilet paper, according to the affidavit. When the fire becomes visible on camera, Sechriest is seen jogging back to his car, authorities said. Although his face is covered in the video, authorities said that he had been driving the same black 2021 Jeep Cherokee that was seen on surveillance footage nights before when he cased the synagogue.
No one was hurt in the blaze, but the front door was badly charred, synagogue leaders told the New York Times. The fire, one of a number of antisemitic acts in Central Texas in recent weeks, was condemned by faith leaders and local officials.
“Hateful acts of intimidation to incite violence is unacceptable, and we will not be silent,” Simone Talma Flowers, the executive director of Interfaith Action of Central Texas, said at a news conference this month.
When the FBI executed federal search warrants at Sechriest’s home, agents found clothes that were consistent with those worn by the person on the surveillance footage, according to the affidavit. During the search, authorities said they also found an American Express card in Sechriest’s name that had been used to buy a fuel container the previous month.
Investigators discovered that the teenager kept journals with entries that included his writing the n-word as well as reflecting on topics such as the dating app Tinder and eating at Buffalo Wild Wings. On Oct. 28, he wrote that he would “scout a target,” according to the affidavit. Three days later, the affidavit says, he wrote the entry about setting a synagogue on fire.
When the FBI searched his car, investigators found multiple glass bottles, bottles of lighter fluid, stormproof matches and a lighter — all of them items, an agent noted in the affidavit, that are used to make molotov cocktails.
Sechriest’s Jeep Cherokee also contained stickers with hateful language. One of them read, “They hate your ancestors, they hate your culture, they hate your nation, they hate your religion … it’s okay to hate them back.” Another sticker with swastikas read, “Would you kill them all to see your rights? The price of freedom is paid in blood,” according to the affidavit.
When the search had been completed, Sechriest was arrested on state charges related to the synagogue fire.
The Texas Military Department and Texas State University both denounced Sechriest’s alleged actions in statements this week.
“Our university decries this hateful act of bigotry and violence and all the antisemitic events perpetrated recently in Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos,” the university said. “The Texas State University community stands in solidarity with our Jewish students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members who have been impacted.”
Rabbi Steven Folberg, senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel for decades, told KEYE that it was reassuring that Sechriest had been detained.
“There’s a certain amount of relief for people in the Jewish community that someone who is accused of perpetrating such a violent and bigoted act is in custody,” he said. “I think that a lot people imagine that someone who would do something like this would be well into adulthood, but he’s just a college freshman and so that raises all kinds of questions about how you end up in the kind of state of mind that you have to be in to do something like this.”
The incident has also prompted donations from those supporting Congregation Beth Israel. Folberg told local media that the temple has received nearly $10,000.
“People at their best respond to tragedy and hate with love and goodness and we’re seeing a lot of that,” Folberg said.
Sechriest is to appear for a preliminary examination and detention hearing on Wednesday, authorities said.
