Texas Man Who Set Fire to Austin Synagogue Sentenced to 10 Years

Published on November 30, 2023

AUSTIN, Texas—A Texas man who set fire to an Austin synagogue in an antisemitic attack two years ago was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in prison. Franklin Sechriest, 20, had previously pleaded guilty to arson and a hate crime causing damage to religious property on Halloween 2021. He also was ordered to pay $470,000 in restitution to Congregation Beth Israel, and to serve an additional three years of supervised release once he gets out of prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release. Mr. Sechriest, who was a member of the Texas State Guard and a student at Texas State University, had written antisemitic journal entries before setting the fire, federal investigators said. Journal entries included “scout a target” on the day of the attack. Several days later, he wrote, “I set a synagogue on fire.”...

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