The car attack on a major Michigan synagogue this month was a “Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism” against the Jewish community, the FBI said Monday.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a U.S. citizen of Lebanese descent, bought the AR-style rifle used in the March 9 attack, three days before he rammed his truck filled with gas and explosives into the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield and opened fire, FBI Special Agent Jennifer Runyan said at a news conference.
Ghazali, 41, killed himself after a shootout with a security guard and was unable to get out of his truck that was stuck inside the building, authorities said. No one else was killed.
“Based on the evidence gathered so far, we consider this attack to be an act of terrorism inspired by Hezbollah targeting the Jewish community,” Runyan said.
Runyan said that 10 minutes before the attack, Ghazali sent a video to his sister, who is in Lebanon and the officials did not believe that she saw it until an hour after the attack.
The translated message in that video: “This is the largest gathering place for Israelis in the state of Michigan in the United States.”
Investigators found no evidence of any conspiracies, Runyan said. Ghazali’s sister once asked him to stop texting her, he said.
The attack on the Temple Mount in Israel came nearly two weeks after the US and Israel attacked Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparking an ongoing war.
Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed terrorist group based in Lebanon and has attacked Israel. Hezbollah has been designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997.
The Israeli military began airstrikes against Hezbollah following the start of the war in Gaza and has recently raided the southern part of Lebanon.
Ghazali lost several family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon before the attack, according to a local Lebanese official and the mayor of Dearborn Heights, where Ghazali lived.
Ghazali had been soliciting Hezbollah resources online since January, but began planning the attack on March 9, Runyan said Monday.
He tried to buy a gun that day from two different people who wouldn’t sell him the weapon, but later at a gun store in Dearborn Heights, he bought an AR-type rifle, 10 magazines and about 300 rounds of .223, Runyan said.
Online, he ordered a magazine bag and 40 collapsible water bottles that hold 5.3 liters each, and the next day, he bought about $2,200 worth of fireworks, he said.
Water containers were delivered the day before the attack, Runyan said. Ghazali filled them with gasoline and bought two torches that he later used to put out the fire, Runyan said.
No one else was killed in the incident, although a temple guard was injured, officials said. There was a large fire following the attack, and several first responders were treated for smoke inhalation.
On March 11, the day before the attack, Ghazali posted photos to a Facebook photo album he called “revenge,” including photos of the late ayatollah and Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, Runyan said.
Also posted online was a phrase written in Arabic that read, “burn their world, because we have a crime against them, which we will never forget” and pictures of Hezbollah, an FBI official said. Ghazali also posted pictures of his late brothers, nephew and niece, he said.
Ghazali posted other messages of revenge the morning of the attack, and while standing in the Temple parking lot Israel sent his sister 19 videos, photos and messages beginning at 10:34 a.m. that Runyon said “reiterated his intent to commit terrorist violence.”
Ghazali also called his ex-wife in Dearborn Heights, and was so worried that he asked police to do a welfare check, Runyon said.
At 12:19 p.m., Ghazali got into his van and went to Temple Israel, which is about 20 miles north of Dearborn Heights.
His truck drove 200 meters down the corridor of the building, Ghazali opened fire on Temple Israel security guards before he was seen setting off the explosives.
About 35 gallons of gasoline were used to try to put out the fire, Runyan said. No other explosives were used, he said.
Temple Israel is a Reform synagogue and the largest Jewish synagogue in Michigan. It has about 3,500 families, or more than 12,000 people, as members, according to its website.
