Few things must hurt a parent more than realizing one’s own son is a wanted criminal. And just as the parents of Tyler Robinson, Charlie Kirk’s 22-year-old alleged murderer, were instrumental in his apprehension, so too was the father of 19-year-old alleged Mississippi synagogue arsonist Stephen Spencer Pittman.

According to an FBI affidavit, the unnamed father, known as S.P., “pleaded for his son to return home” via text early on Saturday. The younger Pittman responded that “he was due for a homerun and ‘I did my research.’”

Pittman purposely torched Mississippi’s oldest synagogue that morning, and based on the FBI affidavit, he sounds proud of himself. Pittman confessed to “his father he broke a window of the Beth Israel Congregation/ISJL [the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute for Southern Jewish Life] building, went inside, and lit it on fire. Pittman laughed as he told his father what he did and said he finally got them.” Pittman’s response to his father is curious and sounds conspiratorial.

Pittman’s interactions with local authorities fared just as poorly. Pittman apparently took issue with “the building’s Jewish ties,” which were a given as a Jewish house of worship. While confessing to “the FBI, Jackson Fire Department, and Hinds County Sheriff’s Office,” Pittman further called the synagogue he targeted “the ‘synagogue of Satan.’”

That reference was anything but random. Simone Rizkallah, the former director of Philos Catholic who helped launch the Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism, explained, “The phrase ‘synagogue of Satan’ appears only twice in Scripture — Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 — and it refers to very specific, first-century conflicts between early Christian communities and local opponents in Smyrna and Philadelphia. It does not refer to Jews as a people, Judaism as a religion, or to Jews of later times and places.” More recently, the term “has been co-opted by a range of white supremacist and antisemitic groups” — and influencers like Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes — “to describe all Jewish people.”

Pittman’s animus seems directed at Jews broadly. He badly damaged the synagogue building, including destroying two Torah scrolls. However, he also seriously harmed his own future. Barely a legal adult, Pittman has already been indicted on state arson and hate crime charges. Pittman additionally faces federal charges of “arson of property used in interstate commerce or used in an activity affecting interstate commerce” that could result in up to 20 years of jail time.

So who is Pittman? He was an honor roll student and varsity baseball player at St. Joseph Catholic School in Madison, Miss., and considered himself “blessed” to play baseball at Coahoma Community College. Pittman’s X and Instagram accounts largely portray a college student devoted to baseball and Christianity.

However, Pittman’s most recent Instagram post was a short antisemitic cartoon: A princess can’t believe there’s a Jew in her backyard, because her “Jew-crow didn’t work.” The princess then pushes the Jew — a yellow cartoon figure with an oversized nose, winged yarmulke, large Star of David necklace, and two large money bags — into water, insisting, “You’re getting baptized right now!”

That cartoon (and the alleged arson) paint Pittman as existing on a completely different wavelength from the adults who helped shape him. Pittman’s father contacted the FBI, and Pittman’s actions have already been publicly condemned by his high school, the Catholic diocese of Jackson, and the local bishop. As Rizkallah wrote, “The Catholic Church teaches unequivocally that antisemitism is a grave sin; that crude forms of replacement theology are incompatible with Catholic faith; that the Jewish people remain beloved of God; and that the covenant God made with Israel has not been revoked. These are not optional opinions. They belong to the Church’s authoritative teaching.”

Pittman’s toxic ideas originated somewhere, though, with podcasts and social media being possibilities. Those ideas took hold in Pittman so significantly that he didn’t simply repost an ugly cartoon, he allegedly set fire to a synagogue. That represents a significant leap in severity and should make us wonder how many other potential Pittmans might exist.

Pittman’s public persona isn’t particularly political, but his recent religious comments echo notions often associated with the political right. The Manhattan Institute’s December poll of traditional Republicans plus MAGA is an instructive starting point: When respondents were asked to what extent they agreed “Jews are collectively responsible for the killing of Jesus Christ,” 20 percent of the coalition strongly agreed and 24 percent somewhat agreed.

Those respondents appear to disagree with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In a section addressing question of Jewish culpability for Christ’s crucifixion, it states:

We cannot lay responsibility for the trial on the Jews in Jerusalem as a whole . . . Jesus himself, in forgiving them on the cross, and Peter in following suit, both accept ‘the ignorance’ of the Jews of Jerusalem and even of their leaders. Still less can we extend responsibility to other Jews of different times and places . . . As the Church declared at the Second Vatican Council: . . . Neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes committed during his Passion . . . the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this followed from holy Scripture.

Pittman’s beef with Jews appears to be his own, and he and his family now face a difficult, courtroom-heavy future. Pittman’s father tried to dissuade his son from choosing this unhappy ending and unfortunately didn’t succeed.

This should be a cautionary tale for other American parents. Jew-hatred poisons its adherents. Know who’s influencing your children, and encourage the young to embrace light over darkness. Because nobody should be burning down his life at 19.