The FBI has confirmed that the man who attacked a synagogue in Michigan earlier this month was inspired by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, a naturalised US citizen originally from Lebanon, drove a truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township on 12 March before shooting and killing himself inside the vehicle, which had caught fire.
FBI Detroit field office head Jennifer Runyan said during a press conference that Ghazali had frequently consumed Hezbollah-related content online. In a video recorded before the attack, he stated his intention to 'kill as many of them as I possibly can'. Runyan added that the attack was 'a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community'.
Investigators found that Ghazali had a recurring search history involving pro-Hezbollah and Iranian news channels, as well as videos about shootouts and bullets. He also regularly viewed coverage of Hezbollah's secretary general, Naim Qassem, and an Iranian fatwa for total jihad against the US military.
Ghazali entered the US in 2011 on a family visa and became naturalised in 2016. Earlier this month, he lost two brothers, a niece, and a nephew in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. The day before and the morning of the attack, he posted photos of his deceased family members and Iran's former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Facebook, writing: 'We will seek retribution for his sacred blood.'
Ghazali had researched local synagogues in the days leading up to the attack, searching for phrases such as 'largest gathering of Israelis in Michigan'. He attempted to obtain a weapon from two individuals, both of whom refused, before purchasing an AR-style rifle, magazines, and ammunition from a local gun store. He also ordered a rifle pouch and water containers online.
Despite the fire and Ghazali's attempts to delete his digital footprint, the FBI processed hundreds of items of evidence and conducted over 100 interviews. No one inside the synagogue was injured, including 140 children in the building's preschool.
