A man who crashed his pickup truck into a Detroit-area synagogue earlier in March was carrying out an attack inspired by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist organization, the FBI said Monday.Ayman Ghazali made a video before the attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, saying he wanted to “kill as many of them as I possibly can,” said Jennifer Runyan, head of the FBI in Detroit.Ghazali, 41, of Dearborn Heights, sat in the parking lot for a few hours on March 12 before smashing his pickup through closed doors and into the hallway of an early childhood education area, striking a security guard.He then exchanged gunfire with another guard before fatally shooting himself, the FBI said at the time. The Ford F150, stocked with commercial-grade fireworks and jugs of gasoline, caught fire during the confrontation.First responders quickly cleared the building, and no one among the 150 children and staff was injured, officials said.The Israeli military said that one of his brothers, Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander in charge of managing weapons operations in the Iranian proxy group’s Badr unit.Planning for the attack began days beforehand, the FBI said, intensifying on March 9. A review of Ghazali’s online activity dating to January showed repeated searches for pro‑Hezbollah and Iranian news outlets, as well as videos related to gunfire and ammunition.Beginning March 9, the FBI said, he closely followed speeches and live coverage involving Hezbollah’s secretary general, Naim Qassem, along with reporting about an Iranian fatwa – a religious ruling concerning Islamic law – calling for total jihad against the U.S. military.CNN contributed to this report.
A man who crashed his pickup truck into a Detroit-area synagogue earlier in March was carrying out an attack inspired by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist organization, the FBI said Monday.
Ayman Ghazali made a video before the attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, saying he wanted to “kill as many of them as I possibly can,” said Jennifer Runyan, head of the FBI in Detroit.
Ghazali, 41, of Dearborn Heights, sat in the parking lot for a few hours on March 12 before smashing his pickup through closed doors and into the hallway of an early childhood education area, striking a security guard.
He then exchanged gunfire with another guard before fatally shooting himself, the FBI said at the time. The Ford F150, stocked with commercial-grade fireworks and jugs of gasoline, caught fire during the confrontation.
First responders quickly cleared the building, and no one among the 150 children and staff was injured, officials said.
The Israeli military said that one of his brothers, Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander in charge of managing weapons operations in the Iranian proxy group’s Badr unit.
Planning for the attack began days beforehand, the FBI said, intensifying on March 9. A review of Ghazali’s online activity dating to January showed repeated searches for pro‑Hezbollah and Iranian news outlets, as well as videos related to gunfire and ammunition.
Beginning March 9, the FBI said, he closely followed speeches and live coverage involving Hezbollah’s secretary general, Naim Qassem, along with reporting about an Iranian fatwa – a religious ruling concerning Islamic law – calling for total jihad against the U.S. military.
CNN contributed to this report.
