FBI agents this week searched the Plymouth home of Jonathan White, who was arrested July 4 after he allegedly ransacked a historic Kingston church, destroying priceless artifacts, and setting fire to Pride and Black Lives Matter flags.
Agents descended on a Micajah Pond Road home, believed to be owned by White’s mother, on Tuesday and Wednesday — sparking chatter among neighbors, who wondered on Facebook what was going on in the normally quiet neighborhood.
Several cars were parked there Wednesday afternoon, and a Plymouth police officer stood watch at the end of the driveway, preventing anyone from approaching the house.
When he was arrested, White said he lived there, according to police reports.
FBI spokeswoman Kristin Setera said that agents were “conducting court authorized activity.” She wouldn’t say what they were looking for or provide any specifics.
It’s unclear whether the case against White has been turned over to federal authorities, who prosecute civil rights violations and hate crimes.
When Kingston police arrested him, they said they called in several other agencies including the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
They also brought in the state fire marshal, the Kingston fire department, and the state police crime scene and hate crimes units.
White, 43, was arrested several hours after he allegedly broke into the 170-year-old First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church on Main Street and wrecked treasured antiques, police said.
White allegedly destroyed handmade 200-year-old shutters and several antique windows, police said. He also allegedly sprayed a fire extinguisher throughout the building.
Church leaders, who held a community healing service on July 9, decried the “violent and targeted attack” on their “beloved Meetinghouse” and said the vandalism caused “significant damage.”
But, they added, the church “teaches love and understanding for everyone, including those who commit crimes like this.”
White has been charged with burning a public building, leaving the scene of property damage, breaking and entering in the nighttime, vandalizing a church, and malicious destruction of property.
He was ordered held on $5,000 cash bail by Plymouth District Court clerk magistrate Adam Baler, according to court records.
After White was bailed out, he was sent to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, where he underwent psychiatric evaluations, according to Beth Stone, spokesperson for Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz.
He was scheduled to be arraigned on July 16, but defaulted, according to court records.
At Cruz’s request, a Plymouth District Court judge Tuesday ordered White held without bail until a hearing on Friday, July 19.
Cruz argued that if White were freed, he could pose a threat to others. Cruz also cited the seriousness of the charges and White’s history of mental illness.
White’s lawyer, Christopher Sheehan, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Kingston police had spotted White at the church several times in the hours before he was arrested.
When police asked him why he was there, he said he had been working at the church and was owed money, police reports said.
But the First Parish’s groundskeeper, Paul Frongillo, told police he didn’t know White, and that he wasn’t employed by the church.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.