Nineteen-year-old Franklin Sechriest received a 10-year jail sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty in April to hate crime and arson charges for attempting to burn down a synagogue.
Sechriest admitted to targeting a Texas synagogue on Halloween 2021 for antisemitic reasons and trying to burn down the house of prayer, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). (REPORT: Grenade Found On Pole Outside Synagogue)
The sentence also included three years of supervised release and the payment of $470,000 as restitution for his crimes, the DOJ noted. The judge recommended that Sechriest be held at a federal medical facility during his imprisonment after the defendant’s lawyer argued that his client suffered from autism and mental illness, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Sechriest apologized during the trial for his views and his actions, the outlet reported.
“No one should have to fear that their daily lives will be inflicted by hate-fueled violence, or that their place of worship and community could become a target of hate,” U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas stated in the DOJ release.
The FBI found various antisemitic statements made by the defendant, antisemitic material owned by him and an admission in his diary that he had set fire to the synagogue, the DOJ said.
Damages to the synagogue from the arson were estimated to be over $100,000, KUT reported.
Franklin Sechriest, the San Marcos man who admittedly tried to burn down an Austin synagogue in 2021, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison today.https://t.co/X5Jv4B0pQV
— KUT Austin (@KUT) November 29, 2023
Jake Cohen, the executive director of the targeted synagogue, told KUT that the charred doors of the house of worship served as a reminder of the destructive power of hate. Cohen also emphasized that the Jewish community would overcome the fear and hatred, per the outlet.
“[Sechriest] attempted to harm us and to deter us from being open anymore, and that’s not who we are,” Cohen told KUT.