Overview

• A jury in Gulfport found Stefan Day Rowold guilty on six federal counts for vandalizing and setting fires at a Latter-day Saints church on July 5 and July 7, 2024.
• Prosecutors presented evidence that he targeted the building because he disagreed with what he believed were the church’s religious views.
• Rowold confessed to breaking in, scrawling hateful messages inside, and igniting a blaze using church hymnals to prevent services from being held.
• He admitted returning two days later after authorities attempted to secure the scene and setting a second fire with cardboard and a piece of firewood.
• The FBI Jackson Field Office led the investigation with ATF, state agencies, and Wiggins police, and Rowold now faces five to twenty years per arson count, up to twenty years per civil rights count, and at least ten years for use of fire to commit a federal felony.