DULUTH, Minn. — The man accused of setting the fire that burned a Duluth synagogue to the ground was sentenced in the case Friday.
Matthew Amiot, age 36, will spend 90 days in jail and perform 192 hours of community service.
Amiot will receive credit for the 36 days he has already served in jail.
In 90 days, a hearing will be held to see if Amiot will need to go to drug or mental health court. His brother Ben Amiot says Matthew has been homeless for years, and struggles with mental health issues.
"He’s not the type of person to do this intentionally," Ben Amiot said. "He was trying to get out of the elements on a cold windy and rainy night in a shed behind the building. I feel that the fire started uncontrollably and he panicked and took off instead of alerting authorities. It is not a hate crime and he is not in any kind of supremacy or whatever people are trying to say."
Last month, Amiot pleaded guilty to two counts: felony negligent fire and negligent fire with injury. The early September fire destroyed the Adas Israel Synagogue and injured a Duluth firefighter, who was struck in the head and knocked out by falling debris.
Amiot lit the fire outside the synagogue, according to court documents. He told police he tried to spit on it to put it out, but surveillance video shows him walking away from the flames.
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