The FBI has labeled the March 12 attack at Temple Israel in Michigan as Hezbollah-inspired based on internet searches and purchases.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan made the revelation on Monday, adding that Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, 41, was inspired for the March 12 attack at a West Bloomfield synagogue. She said that Ghazali consumed and searched queries about Hezbollah news channels, Iranian news channels and shootout videos.
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Minutes after the Temple Israel attack, Runyan said Ghazali posted to a photo album about there no longer being a need to learn Hebrew and then sent his sister — who lives in Lebanon — 19 videos, photos and messages about his intent to commit a terrorist attack and affirmed his Hezbollah-inspired ideology.
“This evidence makes very clear the attacker intended to cause significant amounts of harm to the members and the children present at Temple Israel that day,” Runyan said.
Ghazali was the lone casualty in the attack. A security guard at the synagogue was injured and then released from the hospital.
He was never on the FBI’s radar as either a potential threat or a terrorist, Runyan said.
She added that Ghazali acted alone that day and purchased $2,200 worth of fireworks with the intention of exploding them at the synagogue. He also purchased an AR-style rifle at a Dearborn Heights, Michigan, store along with 10 magazines and 300 rounds of ammunition.
“Throughout the night of March 9, the assailant began visiting numerous different web pages of Jewish cultural, educational and religious centers all throughout the Detroit metro area and even viewed multiple pages of upcoming events at Temple Israel during the morning and early morning of March 10,” Runyan said.
Ghazali’s ex-wife, who was not named in the press conference, contacted the Dearborn Heights Police Department for a welfare check after he exchanged several short calls just before ramming his truck into the building.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Jerome Gorgon said that if Ghazali survived the attack, his office would have pursued charges for providing material support to Hezbollah, among other crimes.
“This terrorist acted on behalf of Hezbollah, and he intended to kill others, not just himself,” Gorgon said.
No information was provided on why Ghazali targeted Temple Israel. The synagogue’s foundation predates the country of Israel’s establishment.
Assailant vengeful after family’s deaths in Lebanon
Ghazali’s comments and searches online intensified after Israel killed his brothers Ibrahim Muhammad and Qassem Ghazali and Ibrahim’s children in an air strike the week prior.
That was later confirmed as his family attended funeral services at a Dearborn Heights mosque. Lebanese officials have said the family was breaking fast for Ramadan when the fatal attack happened.
The Israel Defense Forces claimed Ghazali’s brother — Ibrahim — was a Hezbollah commander, but a Hezbollah official denied the claims.
Runyan said that Ghazali sought vengeance for his family’s deaths as he watched videos about Israel being violent, shared memes about Hezbollah’s operations and cited some verses from the Quran.
