Overview
- Federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal complaint charging 24‑year‑old John Jones with intentionally setting the South Bushwick Reformed Church on June 19, 2026, and he is expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn.
- Prosecutors say surveillance video shows Jones trying to enter the church, buying a lighter at a nearby store, returning to the property, and being present shortly before smoke and flames were first seen.
- Jones was identified to investigators after a June 28 arrest in a separate property‑damage case and was taken into custody this week following an alleged shoplifting stop in Midtown where officers found an outstanding warrant.
- The FDNY concluded the three‑alarm June 19 fire was intentionally set, the blaze destroyed the sanctuary and steeple, and the investigation involved the NYPD, ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
- Local preservationists and the congregation are fundraising and stabilizing the surviving fellowship hall while city remediation continues and prosecutors pursue a federal arson charge that carries a maximum sentence of about 20 years.