The FBI said Monday that a man who drove his pickup truck into a Detroit-area synagogue earlier this month was inspired by the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, the FBI said Monday.Ayman Mohammad Ghazali, 41, of Dearborn Heights, made a video before the attack on Temple Israel, saying he “wanted to kill as many of them as possible,” said Jennifer Runyan, head of the FBI in Detroit.“Our assessment is that this attack is a Hezbollah-inspired terrorist act that intentionally targeted the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan,” he said. “The evidence shows that the attacker was motivated and inspired by the extremist ideology of Hezbollah.”Ghazali was a naturalized American citizen, originally from Mashghara in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. Israeli military officials confirmed that his two adult brothers, as well as his niece and nephew, were killed in Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, and his family connections include a brother, Ibrahim Ghazali, who was a Hezbollah commander.
attack on temple israel
On March 12, Ghazali sat in the synagogue parking lot for several hours and then drove his Ford F-150 through the closed doors into a hallway containing an early childhood education area, injuring a security guard. A vehicle reportedly filled with commercial-grade fireworks and jugs of gasoline caught fire during a shootout with security personnel. Ghazali ultimately shot himself during the confrontation.First responders immediately evacuated the building, and none of the approximately 150 children and staff members present were injured. Authorities later searched Ghazali’s residence and investigated his digital activity, noting that he had shared photos of children killed in Israeli air strikes before the attack.Temple Israel, part of Reform Judaism, is the largest branch in North America, the second-largest congregation in the denomination, with more than 12,000 members. Founded in Detroit in 1941 and moved to West Bloomfield in the 1980s, the synagogue emphasizes progressive values, including social justice and gender equality.Following the incident, security was increased at Jewish institutions across Michigan to prevent further attacks.