A suspect has been arrested in connection with a suspected arson fire at Hillel House near the San Francisco State University campus on December 5.

The incident happened around 2 pm on December 5 at Hillel House, which is located on Banbury Drive near the SF State campus. Students were inside preparing for a Hanukkah-themed Shabbat service, and a suspicious fire was set outside the building, which ultimately caused damage to the structure and the building's basement, a second-floor bathroom, as well as "most student programming materials" according to a Facebook post by the Jewish Community Relations Council.

The San Francisco Police Department announced Wednesday that they had made an arrest a day earlier in connection with the incident, which has officially been deemed an arson by the SFFD. 36-year-old Mitchell Hoyt of San Francisco was re-arrested Tuesday on suspicion of arson, and for causing a fire to an inhabited structure, after he was already in custody at SF County Jail on an unrelated matter.

The SFPD Arson Task Force linked Hoyt to the incident, though they did not reveal how. And, the SFPD said, "there is no probable cause to arrest Hoyt for a hate crime" at this time.

Charges in the case were expected to be filed by the district attorney's office today (Thursday).

Hillel House, which serves Jewish students from across the city of San Francisco and not just at SF State, was founded in 1982 and has been fully closed since the fire, and the final Shabbat of the semester was canceled.

Damage caused by the December 5 fire. Photo via Hillel House

The center was previously targeted with antisemitic graffiti on the front of the building last year, and there was evidence of an attempted break-in.

The arson arrest comes after last weekend's deadly terror attack on Jews gathered at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia for a Hannukah celebration.

In an email statement, Roger Feigelson, SF Hillel’s executive director, said of the Sydney attack, "We will never let these antisemitic attacks be normalized." And, he added, about the arson, "The administration at San Francisco State has been amazingly supportive," and, "The top priority is to abate all the asbestos and lead that were let loose into the building."

Feigelson added, "What a mess, though," and asked for community support in replacing materials that were destroyed and making building repairs.

While an arrest has been made, this is still an active investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD.” Tipsters can remain anonymous.