News
Arson engulfs Mississippi synagogue, a congregation once bombed by Ku Klux Klan
A fire damaged the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss. The fire department said arson was the cause.
Hannah Orlansky/Beth Israel Congregation
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Hannah Orlansky/Beth Israel Congregation
Authorities have charged one person with arson in a fire that badly damaged Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., early Saturday morning. The Jackson Fire Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and the FBI are investigating.
Zach Shemper, Beth Israel Congregation president, said he’s stunned.
“Crazy things happen all over the world and nothing really hits home until it actually hits directly home,” he told Mississippi Public Broadcasting. “When it hits home, it’s just hard. Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my own head around it.”
Shemper also released a statement saying the synagogue and its 150 families are resilient.
“As Jackson’s only synagogue, Beth Israel is a beloved institution, and it is the fellowship of our neighbors and extended community that will see us through,” he said.
The congregation was founded in 1860, according to Beth Israel’s website. In 1967, local Ku Klux Klan members bombed the place of worship and the home of the rabbi at the time, who had spoken out against racism and segregation. No one was hurt in the civil rights-era bombings or Saturday’s fire.
Charles Felton, Jackson Fire Department chief of fire investigations, told NPR in an interview on Sunday that flames and smoke caused extensive damage and destroyed Beth Israel’s library, where he says the fire was started. The fire was reported to 911 just after 3 a.m.
“All contents in that library are destroyed. There’s not much that can be retrieved from the library area. The other portions of the building do not have actual fire damage, but they have damage as far as smoke and soot,” he said.
Shemper said the fire destroyed two Torahs, the Jewish sacred texts, and damaged five others. A Torah that survived the Holocaust was protected by a glass display case and was not damaged. The synagogue’s Tree of Life plaque honoring congregants’ meaningful occasions was destroyed. Shemper said the library, administrative offices and the lobby suffered the most damage.
Surveillance video shows a man wearing a hoodie and a mask pouring liquid from a can inside the synagogue, according to Shemper. Felton said Jackson Fire investigators later received information from an area hospital that led them to the suspect, who was arrested Saturday evening.
“There was a suspect possibly burned at a local hospital,” he told NPR. “They did go to the hospital at which point they interviewed the person of interest and that person did confess to having involvement in the fire.”
The Jackson Fire Department’s powers include the authority to charge suspects, according to Felton, who said the department has filed arson charges against the suspect, who authorities have not publicly named. He said federal authorities will make a determination on whether to pursue hate crime charges.
The FBI’s office in Jackson said in a statement that it was aware of the incident and was working with other law enforcement on the investigation.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn said the city stands with Beth Israel and the Jewish community.
“Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship,” said a statement from the mayor’s office.
Beth Israel is planning to immediately move forward.
“With support from our community, we will rebuild. Beth Israel Congregation has been the Jewish spiritual home in Jackson, Mississippi, for over 160 years,” said Shemper’s statement. “We are devastated but ready to rebuild.”
He said several local churches have offered temporary space for Beth Israel to continue services.
The attack comes after investigators say a father and son opened fire on Jewish people celebrating Hanukkah on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, last month. Fifteen people were killed and dozens were injured.
Federal agents shot and killed a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, at about 9 a.m. Central time on Saturday morning. A video shared with The New York Times by an eyewitness and her lawyer, as well as other video footage posted on social media, documents the violent scene, where agents appear to fire at least 10 shots in a span of only five seconds.
The footage seems to contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the event, which the agency said began after the victim approached the federal agents with a handgun and the intent to “massacre” them.
48 seconds before shooting
Videos show a small group of civilians standing in the middle of a street where a person has recently been detained on the ground; the civilians are speaking to federal agents. Mr. Pretti appears to be filming the scene, and he walks closer to the federal agents while holding his phone.
25 seconds before
Leading up to this moment, one agent shoved two people away from a D.H.S. vehicle and into the street. Mr. Pretti attempted to put himself between the D.H.S. agent and the two civilians, and the agent pushed one of them to the ground. The video shows the same agent squirting pepper spray in the direction of Mr. Pretti’s face. (This agent will later fire shots at Mr. Pretti.)
Mr. Pretti is holding his phone in one hand, and he holds his other hand up to protect against the spray.
17 seconds before
Several agents grab at Mr. Pretti, who is still holding his phone. Additional agents approach and attempt to pin Mr. Pretti to the ground.
11 seconds before
Mr. Pretti is surrounded by a group of seven agents, some of whom have wrestled him to the ground. One of the agents, who wears a gray coat, begins to approach the fray with empty hands and grabs at Mr. Pretti, while the other agents hold him down on his knees. At the same time, another agent strikes Mr. Pretti repeatedly with a pepper spray canister.
1 second before
The agent in the gray coat appears to pull a gun from near Mr. Pretti’s right hip. He then begins to move away from the skirmish with the recovered weapon.
At the same time, another agent unholsters his firearm and points it at Mr. Pretti’s back.
First shot fired
The agent in the gray coat removes the weapon, which matches the profile of a gun D.H.S. says belonged to Mr. Pretti, from the scene. Then, while Mr. Pretti is on his knees and restrained, the agent standing directly above him appears to fire one shot at Mr. Pretti at close range. He immediately fires three additional shots.
Additional shots fired
Several agents have moved away from Mr. Pretti, who has collapsed. Another agent — the same one who shoved the civilians into the street and pepper-sprayed Mr. Pretti — unholsters his gun and fires at Mr. Pretti. The first agent also fires additional shots. Together, they fire six more shots at Mr. Pretti while he lies motionless on the ground.
At least 10 shots appear to have been fired within five seconds. By the moment of the 10th shot, the agent who had moved away with the recovered weapon has crossed the street.
Mr. Pretti is the second person to have been shot and killed by a federal agent in Minnesota in recent weeks. Footage of Mr. Pretti’s death in Minneapolis was posted to social media almost immediately after the shooting.
The Homeland Security Department said that the episode began after a man approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun, and that an agent fired “defensive shots.” Another incident in Minneapolis this month, in which a Venezuelan man was shot in the leg by a federal agent, was also characterized as “defensive” by the department.
Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota disputed the claims by federal officials that Mr. Pretti had posed a threat. He accused “the most powerful people in the federal government” of “spinning stories and putting up pictures.”
Brian O’Hara, the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, said that Mr. Pretti was an American citizen with no criminal record, and that he had a valid firearms permit. Under Minnesota law, citizens can legally carry a handgun in public, without concealment, if they have a permit.
Large crowds of protesters continued to gather throughout the day at the site of Mr. Pretti’s shooting. Later in the day, Mr. Walz authorized the deployment of the Minnesota National Guard, who will wear neon reflective vests to differentiate themselves from federal agents.
ICE and federal agents face off with Minneapolis residents and protesters following the fatal shooting of a local resident earlier in the day near Nicollet Avenue and West 26th Street in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jan. 24, 2026.
Erin Trieb for NPR
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Erin Trieb for NPR
A man shot Saturday morning by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis has died, federal and local officials said.
The man was identified by state officials as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and Minneapolis resident.
The incident marks the third shooting involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month.
“Today, federal agents beat and then shot multiple times and killed 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a U.S. citizen, a Minneapolis resident, and a V.A. nurse,” U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in a news conference this afternoon. “Eyewitness video shows, once again, reckless, violent, and dangerous federal agents taking the life of a Minnesotan.”
ICE and federal agents face off with Minneapolis residents and protesters following the fatal shooting of a local resident earlier in the day near Nicollet Avenue and West 26th Street in south Minneapolis, Jan. 24, 2026.
Erin Trieb for NPR
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Erin Trieb for NPR
ICE and federal agents face off with Minneapolis residents and protesters following the fatal shooting of a local resident earlier in the day in south Minneapolis, Jan. 24, 2026.
Erin Trieb for NPR
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Erin Trieb for NPR
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he intends to seek a temporary restraining order from a judge on Monday that would immediately stop the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Earlier this month, an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement shot and killed Renee Macklin Good, another 37-year-old Minneapolis resident and mother of three.
The shooting occurred shortly after 9 a.m. Central Time on the city’s South Side when federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation against a man the Department of Homeland Security said was undocumented and wanted for “violent assault.”
Gregory Bovino, head of U.S. Border Patrol, said a different man — the one who was fatally shot — approached Border Patrol agents with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. Bovino said agents attempted to disarm the man, but he “violently resisted.” The agent shot and killed the man in self-defense, according to Bovino.
“This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a social media post.
ICE and federal agents face off with Minneapolis residents and protesters following the fatal shooting of a local resident earlier in the day on Jan. 24, 2026.
Erin Trieb for NPR
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Erin Trieb for NPR
Minneapolis residents and protesters gathered following the fatal shooting of a local resident earlier in the day in south Minneapolis, Jan. 24, 2026.
Erin Trieb for NPR
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Erin Trieb for NPR
Bystander video, posted to social media and not independently confirmed by NPR, appears to contradict DHS’ account of the shooting. The footage appears to show multiple federal agents surrounding a man on the ground, with several punching him and trying to restrain him before an agent shoots him. It’s unclear whether the man brandished or tried to use the firearm that federal officials said he had in his possession.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news conference Saturday afternoon that Pretti’s only known interaction with police was for traffic tickets.
“We believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,” O’Hara said.
Pretti was shot multiple times, possibly by more than one federal officer, O’Hara said. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
“We were not provided any public safety statement around the incident…” he said.
Bovino said the officer who fired the shots was “highly trained” and has worked as a Border Patrol agent for the last eight years. He said the shooting remains under investigation.
Macklin Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7 in her SUV as she drove away after partially blocking a Minneapolis street.
Protesters respond at the site where a federal agent shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, 2026
Zaydee Sanchez for NPR
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Zaydee Sanchez for NPR
Protesters respond at the site where a federal agent shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, 2026.
ZAYDEE SANCHEZ
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ZAYDEE SANCHEZ
On Jan. 14, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celia, a Venezuelan national, was shot in the leg by immigration officers during an altercation with those agents.
“Minnesota has had it,” Gov. Tim Walz posted on social media this morning. “This is sickening.”
Walz post that he spoke with someone from the White House after the shooting and called on President Trump to end the immigration operation immediately.
In a year, the president has altered 10 spaces in the White House.
For generations, each American president has left his stamp on the White House. But in just a year of his second term, President Trump has overseen a collection of changes that is unprecedented in scale, speed and cost.
Some changes are cosmetic, while others are structural. As with his executive style, he has broken long-held norms in his makeover of the “People’s House.” Critics have questioned Mr. Trump’s demolition of the East Wing before gaining approvals, and the administration is under legal pressure over plans to build a ballroom in its place.
It is difficult to know the full price tag of the renovations, but they come at a time when cost of living and inflation are top of mind for many Americans. Mr. Trump has said that he is personally paying for some projects, and that he and his donors would foot the bill for the $400 million ballroom.
Here are the 10 areas he transformed.
Mr. Trump is not done yet.
In an interview with The Times this month, he said that designs were being drawn up for a second level on top of the West Colonnade. Called the “Upper West Wing,” it would hold offices for West Wing aides and “future first ladies.”
Photo credits
Cover: Doug Mills/The New York Times
Cabinet Room: Drew Angerer/The New York Times and Doug Mills/The New York Times
Oval Office: Dirck Halstead/Getty Images, Eric Draper/The White House, via National Archives, Doug Mills/The New York Times and Bruce White, via White House Historical Association
Oval Office study: David Valdez/The White House, via National Archives, Pete Souza/The White House and Doug Mills/The New York Times
West Colonnade: Doug Mills/The New York Times and Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times
Rose Garden: Doug Mills/The New York Times and Todd Heisler/The New York Times
Palm Room: Jack E. Boucher/Historic American Buildings Survey, via Library of Congress and Doug Mills/The New York Times
Flagpoles: Doug Mills/The New York Times
Lincoln Bathroom: Andrea Hanks/The White House and Doug Mills/The New York Times
Entrance Hall: Doug Mills/The New York Times and Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
East Wing Ballroom: Detroit Publishing Co., via Library of Congress, Kevin Carter/Getty Images, Doug Mills/The New York Times, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images and Bettmann Archive, via Getty Images
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