FBI: Synagogue Attacker Was Inspired by Hezbollah

Federal agents say an attack on a Michigan synagogue this month was inspired by Hezbollah and the attacker planned to kill as many Jewish people as he could. At a Monday news conference, FBI officials said 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who rammed his truck into a preschool entrance at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on March 12, was acting under an ideology in line with Hezbollah, which the US designates as a terrorist organization, the Detroit Free Press reports. "The evidence shows the attacker was motivated and inspired by Hezbollah's militant ideologies," said Jennifer Runyan, who heads the FBI's Detroit office.

Runyan said the bureau reached that conclusion only after a "thorough review and keen evaluation of the facts." Runyan said Ghazali recorded a video minutes before the attack, the AP reports. She said that in the video sent to his sister, Ghazali said, in Arabic, "This is the largest gathering place for Israelis in the State of Michigan in the United States. I have booby-trapped the car. I will forcefully enter and start shooting at them. God willing, I will kill as many of them as I possibly can."

According to investigators, Ghazali immersed himself in online propaganda, repeatedly viewing pro-Hezbollah and Iranian news channels and videos of gun battles, and maintained a Facebook photo folder labeled "Vengance," the Free Press reports. The FBI says he researched Jewish institutions in Michigan, acquired a firearm, and loaded his truck with gasoline and a large cache of commercial fireworks before smashing through the doors of the synagogue's preschool wing. A security guard was injured in the attack; Ghazali exchanged gunfire with guards before killing himself. No children or school staff were hurt.

Runyan said there is no sign Ghazali had local accomplices, though the investigation is ongoing. Authorities said Dearborn Heights police received a 911 call from his ex-wife before the assault, reporting he was mentally unstable. Ghazali, originally from Lebanon, came to the US in 2011 and became a US citizen in 2016. Days before the attack, several of his relatives were reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike. Authorities said the strike killed two of Ghazali's brothers, including a man Israel says was a Hezbollah commander.