GULFPORT, Miss. — A federal jury has found a man from Mississippi guilty on several counts of arson and civil rights violations for intentionally igniting a fire at a local place of worship, as announced by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday.
Stefan Day Rowold, hailing from Wiggins, Mississippi, was convicted on six federal charges related to two distinct attacks that occurred in July 2024 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his hometown.
Prosecutors indicated that Rowold targeted the church due to his animosity towards its religious beliefs. On July 5, 2024, he broke into the church, wrote hateful messages on the walls, and set fire to the multipurpose room, using hymnals from the church as fuel to disrupt religious services. Merely two days later, on July 7, he returned to the location—ignoring law enforcement’s attempts to secure the area—and ignited a second fire using cardboard and firewood.
Throughout the trial, jurors were presented with evidence that included Rowold’s own confession, where he acknowledged deliberately vandalizing and trying to destroy the church out of religious hatred.
“This was a deliberate and hateful attack against a house of worship, carried out to intimidate and silence a religious community,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Such acts of religiously motivated violence will not be tolerated.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Lemon for the Southern District of Mississippi and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff also commended the work of federal and state law enforcement agencies in bringing Rowold to justice.
Rowold was convicted on multiple counts, including federal arson, civil rights violations, and use of fire to commit a federal felony. He now faces significant prison time:
- 5 to 20 years for each arson charge
- Up to 20 years for each civil rights violation
- Minimum of 10 years for using fire in a federal felony
Sentencing is scheduled for January 14, 2026.
