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(JACKSON, Miss.) — Federal officials on Monday charged a man with setting fire to the only synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, claiming that the suspect did so because of the building’s “Jewish ties.”

According to an FBI affidavit, the building sustained “extensive” damage, rendering it “inoperable for an indefinite period of time.”

The suspect, identified by the FBI as Stephen Spencer Pittman, allegedly laughed about the attack, telling his father “he finally got them” and referring to the place of worship as the “synagogue of Satan,” according to the affidavit.

Pittman is charged with arson of property used in interstate commerce or used in an activity affecting interstate commerce, according to the criminal complaint.

The fire occurred around 3 a.m. on Saturday at the historic Beth Israel Congregation temple in Jackson, the same synagogue that was bombed in 1967 by the Ku Klux Klan, officials said. The FBI said the building also houses the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL).

“The ISJL operates in interstate and foreign commerce as it provides services to Jewish communities” in 13 different states, including Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas, according to the affidavit, and also “provides comprehensive religious school programs to 70 Jewish congregations and offers traveling rabbinical services,” most of which “are delivered in states outside the State of Mississippi.”

Pittman’s father contacted the FBI and “advised his son confessed to setting the building on fire,” according to the affidavit, and allegedly sent text messages to his father about the blaze, saying he was “due for a homerun” and “I did my research,” according to the affidavit.

Pittman allegedly admitted to stopping to purchase gasoline, taking his license plate off of his car, breaking a window at the synagogue, pouring the gasoline inside of the building and using a torch lighter to start the fire, according to the affidavit.

“Pittman was identified as a person of interest and ultimately confessed to lighting a fire inside the building due to the building’s Jewish ties,” according to the affidavit.

Security video from inside the building “showed the fire was started by an individual inside the building in the early morning hours of January 10, 2026,” according to the affidavit.

“A hooded individual can be seen walking in the interior of the building pouring contents from what appeared to be a gas container,” the affidavit also said.

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(UVALDE, Texas) — An attorney for former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzales brought a neon orange foam handgun to court on Monday as he tried to defend the police response to the Robb Elementary School mass shooting.

After stepping behind an eight-foot foam board, defense attorney Nico LaHood began his cross examination by asking the witness, a ranger with the Texas Department of Public Safety, “I’m going to point this — do you mind if I point this at you?”

LaHood proceeded to peek his fake weapon out of the foam board while asking the witness, Scott Swick, about the appropriate police response to a mass shooting. 

“As a law enforcement officer, you should never rush into a situation without assessing it?” LaHood asked. 

“To a point,” Swick said. 

Prosecutors allege Gonzales, who is charged with child endangerment, did not follow his training and endangered the 19 students who died and an additional 10 surviving students. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers argue he is being unfairly blamed for a broader law-enforcement failure that day. It took 77 minutes before law enforcement mounted a counterassault to end the May 2022 rampage.

Another witness on Monday was Texas Ranger Terry Snyder, who testified about the shell casings recovered from the hallway of Robb Elementary.

During cross examination, defense attorney Gary Hillier tried to use the testimony to highlight the risk potentially faced by Gonzales. 

“Because we’ve seen evidence here that rounds have been fired in this hallway, so anyone who enters through that doorway is entering a potentially life or death situation for them personally?” Hillier asked. 

“Correct,” Snyder said. 

Prosecutors attempted to recover from the cross examinations by highlighting the urgency of the police response to a mass shooting. 

“So, when an officer hears shooting but can’t see shooting, what does the officer do?” prosecutor Bill Turner said. 

“Runs to the shooting, where we tactically approach to where the shooting has occurred,” Snyder said.

Monday’s testimony was much more technical than last week’s, when the prosecution’s witnesses included educators who survived the massacre. Teacher Lynn Deming testified that she used her body to protect her fourth-grade students from gunfire and tried to keep them calm.

“I just kept saying, you know, like, ‘Babies, I love you. Just pray, I love you, OK,'” she testified as she held back tears. “I just wanted the last thing they heard was that somebody loved them. So, I think I said it a million times.”

Friday also brought the first testimony from a parent of a victim. Jennifer Garcia, whose 9-year-old daughter Eliahna Amyah Garcia was killed, told jurors, “We couldn’t find her. Kids were just running everywhere.”

According to former acting Dallas District Attorney Messina Madson, prosecutors appeared to be using their first witnesses to lay bare the tragedy that took place before turning their focus to Gonzales specifically. 

“This is an unusual way to apply this law, and so from an overall point of view of what the district attorney’s office is trying to do is say this is a tragedy,” Madson, now a criminal defense attorney at MC Criminal Law, told ABC News. “This is a terrible, horrible thing that happened, and it is so horrible that not only do we have to mourn it, but somebody is criminally responsible, besides the person who pulled the trigger.”

According to Madson, prosecutors will need to clearly identify what opportunities Gonzales had to intervene and how close he was to the shooter to prove he “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly and with criminal negligence” placed students in harm’s way. 

“It’s saying that somebody in those circumstances would have understood the risk and would have intervened and … you behaved in a way that was not how a reasonable person would in that situation,” Madson said.

ABC News’ Juan Renteria contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Smithsonian Institution is facing a deadline to submit additional materials to the White House related to a review demanded by the Trump administration of the institution’s exhibitions, programming and internal governance.

According to a Dec. 18, 2025, letter from the White House addressed to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, the Smithsonian Institution’s previous submission last fall “fell far short of what was requested, and the overwhelming majority of requested items remain outstanding.”

It is unclear which materials were submitted in September and which materials “remain outstanding.”

ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment. The Smithsonian declined to comment about the deadline.

The request for materials comes after the White House said in a letter addressed to Bunch last August that it plans to conduct a wide-ranging review of the Smithsonian’s museum exhibitions, materials and operations to ensure they align with President Donald Trump’s view of American history.

In response to the White House’s demand, Bunch said the institution would be conducting the review internally, a Smithsonian official confirmed to ABC News.

Following the internal review, a Smithsonian official said Bunch will brief the White House on its findings, but a formal report will not be sent to the White House, the Smithsonian official added.

A White House official told ABC News in September that the Smithsonian “cannot credibly audit itself.”

“The Smithsonian is not an autonomous institution, as 70% of its funding comes from taxpayers. While we acknowledge the Smithsonian’s recognition of its own programmatic failures and is moving toward critical introspection, it cannot credibly audit itself,” White House official Lindsey Halligan said. “By definition, an ‘audit’ must be neutral and objective. The American taxpayers deserve nothing less, which is why the White House will ensure the audit is conducted impartially. This is non-negotiable.”

The president signed an executive order on March 27, placing Vice President JD Vance in charge of supervising efforts to “remove improper ideology” from all areas of the Smithsonian and targeted funding for programs that advance “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.”

The order — called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” — directed Vance and Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum to restore federal parks, monuments, memorials and statues “that have been improperly removed or changed in the last five years to perpetuate a false revision of history or improperly minimize or disparage certain historical figures or events.”

Bunch, who met with Trump at the White House on Aug. 28, referenced his conversations with Trump in a Sept. 3 letter to the institution’s employees, which was obtained by ABC News.

In the letter, Bunch told employees he underscored the independence of the Smithsonian, saying it was “paramount.” He also told employees that the institution remains committed to telling the “American story” and “will always be, a place that welcomes all Americans and the world.”

ABC News’ John Santucci, Hannah Demissie, Laura Romero and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.

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(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A Chicago man accused of gunning down his ex-wife and her husband in their home has waived extradition and will be transferred from Illinois to Ohio to face charges.

Michael McKee is charged with premeditated aggravated murder for allegedly shooting and killing his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband, dentist Spencer Tepe, at their Columbus home on Dec. 30, according to police.

McKee, 39, wore a yellow jumpsuit as he made a brief first court appearance on Monday in Rockford, Illinois, where he was arrested on Saturday.

McKee did not enter a plea but assistant public defender Carie Poirier told the judge he intended to plead not guilty. A status hearing on his transfer to Ohio is scheduled for Jan. 19.

Police announced McKee’s arrest on Saturday after he was linked to a car seen on surveillance footage in the neighborhood, according to court documents.

McKee and Monique Tepe were married in 2015 and divorced in 2017, according to divorce records obtained by ABC Columbus affiliate WSYX. They did not have any children together, according to the records.

Spencer and Monique Tepe married in December 2020, according to their obituary.

They are survived by their two young children who were found safe inside the house after the Dec. 30 killings.

McKee’s arrest came one day before the scheduled celebration of life service for the couple.

“Today’s arrest represents an important step toward justice for Monique and Spencer,” the family said in a statement on Saturday. “Nothing can undo the devastating loss of two lives taken far too soon, but we are grateful to the City of Columbus Police Department, its investigators, and assisting law enforcement community. … As the case proceeds, we trust the justice system to hold the person responsible fully accountable.”

“Monique and Spencer remain at the center of our hearts, and we carry forward their love as we surround and protect the two children they leave behind,” the family said. “We will continue to honor their lives and the light they brought into this world.”

ABC News’ Matt Foster, Victoria Arancio and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.

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(PORTLAND, Ore.) — The driver who was one of two people shot by a federal agent during immigration enforcement operations in Portland, Oregon, last week allegedly rammed his truck into an unoccupied U.S. Border Patrol vehicle prior to the shooting, according to a federal complaint unsealed on Monday.

Luis Nino-Moncada is charged with aggravated assault of a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and depredation of federal property in excess of $1,000, according to the federal complaint.

Border Patrol agents attempted to stop his Red Toyota Tacoma on Thursday while conducting a targeted enforcement operation focusing on his passenger, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, Nino-Moncada appeared “anxious” and was moving around in the driver’s seat. After agents commanded them to exit, he allegedly put the vehicle in reverse and struck an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle, causing “significant damage,” according to the complaint.

He then allegedly drove forward and backward multiple times, repeatedly hitting the federal vehicle, according to the complaint, which included several photos of the damaged car.

A Border Patrol agent then fired their service weapon twice at the driver of the truck, according to statements from Border Patrol agents, the complaint said.

Nino-Moncada and the woman fled the scene and agents did not know at the time whether anyone had been hit, according to the complaint.

Border Patrol agents did not pursue the vehicle after it fled, according to the complaint. Nino-Moncada shortly called 911 from an apartment complex several miles from the shooting scene requesting help and Portland Police and medical aid responded, police said.

During an FBI interview, Nino-Moncada allegedly admitted to intentionally ramming the Border Patrol vehicle and acknowledged he knew they were immigration enforcement vehicles, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, there is no body-worn camera footage of the incident and no surveillance or social media video has been found.

Nino-Moncada and his passenger — identified by DHS as Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras — remained hospitalized in stable condition, police said Friday.

Both allegedly have ties to the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang, according to DHS and Portland police.

DHS alleged that Zambrano-Contreras, a Venezuelan national, is known to be involved with a TdA prostitution ring and was allegedly connected to a July shooting tied to a prostitution deal gone bad.

Nino-Moncada, who was previously ordered removed by a judge in Denver in 2024, allegedly drove the woman during her prostitution activities, according to the complaint.

“According to a newly unsealed complaint, Luis Nino-Moncada — an illegal alien in Portland, Oregon with ties to Tren de Aragua — is alleged to have repeatedly rammed a Border Patrol vehicle, threatening the lives of federal law enforcement officers,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on X on Monday. “He should NEVER have been in our country to begin with, and we will ensure he NEVER walks free in America again.”

The incident in Portland came a day after an ICE officer shot and killed a woman in her car in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sparking outrage and backlash against the presence of federal agents there. Similarly, the mayor of Portland called for immigration enforcement operations to halt while the investigation is ongoing.

In the Minneapolis case, federal officials alleged the motorists tried to run over an agent, who fired defensive shots.

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