Authorities have arrested a man alleged to have committed arson at a Texas synagogue on Halloween.
"Franklin Barrett Sechriest, 18, is suspected of using an accelerant near the sanctuary doors of Congregation Beth Israel to ignite the flames, causing an estimated $25,000 in damage," KXAN-TV reported, citing the Austin Fire Department.
An arrest affidavit says that surveillance video showed a dark-colored Jeep and a "tall, thin white male with dark hair" who got out of the vehicle just before the fire started — and then ran back to the vehicle immediately after the fire started.
The congregation provided arson investigators with surveillance footage from three days earlier that appears to show the same Jeep.
Prominent University of Texas Law Prof. Steve Vladeck, a member of the synagogue, pointed his Twitter followers to a thread by independent journalist Nate Thayer, saying it "looks increasingly like what we all assumed it was."
Schriest was identified b/c the bonehead drove his own car Halloween night, carrying a gas canister to the house of worship & his car tag # was captured on surveillance videopic.twitter.com/i2BNLpLzZX— Nate Thayer (@Nate Thayer) 1636606925
2cd from left (my error). He is also seen in an earlier event on Halloween day harassing trick or treaters in Austin. He is in the middle w/ cell phonepic.twitter.com/5XoudqOnWE— Nate Thayer (@Nate Thayer) 1636607216
The extraordinary thing is the Goyim Defense League captured it all on many hours of their livestream, including the arsonist torching swastikas in the immediate hours after he torched the synagogue. We are not talking the sharpest pencils in the box...https://www.goyimtv.tv/channel/3026352318/HandsomeTruth/videos\u00a0\u2026— Nate Thayer (@Nate Thayer) 1636608207
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