The FBI said on Monday that the March 12 attack on a synagogue in suburban Detroit was “a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan.”
The assailant, identified as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, a Lebanese-born naturalized U.S. citizen, waited in the parking lot of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., for about two hours before ramming his pickup truck into the building, where more than 100 children were attending school inside.
Ghazali struck a security officer with the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with security personnel. He later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. No one else was killed, and the injured security officer is expected to recover. Authorities say Ghazali acted alone.
Jerome Gorgon, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said at a press conference on Monday that Ghazali’s planned attack was motivated by Hezbollah propaganda. Had he survived, prosecutors would have charged him with providing material support to the Iran-backed terrorist group.
“This man acted under Hezbollah’s direction and control,” Gorgon said. “He intended to kill others, not just himself.”
Experts previously told JNS that they suspected the West Bloomfield attack and others have been inspired by the Iranian regime, of which Hezbollah is a proxy, without a direct tie back to Tehran.
Authorities also said members of Ghazali’s family in Lebanon had recently been killed in an Israeli airstrike, including two brothers, one of whom was identified as a Hezbollah commander who managed weapons operations in one of the terror group’s units.
Federal investigators said a review of Ghazali’s online activity showed repeated consumption of pro-Hezbollah content and research into synagogues and weapons in the days leading up to the attack.
After the attack, FBI officials say they located Ghazali’s name in federal government databases, documenting connections to “known or suspected terrorists” associated with Hezbollah.
