A little more than two weeks ago a man named Ayman Ghazali drove his truck into one of the largest synagogues in the country. He was armed and his truck was full of explosives. Fortunately he engaged by security and killed himself before he could harm anyone. In fact, the only person harmed in the attack was a security guard who was hit by the truck.
It could have been a lot worse. At the time of the attack there more than 100 young children in the building.
On Thursday, with 103 children and nearly 50 teachers, clergy and staff members inside the building, Temple Israel responded without a pause.
Security guards ran toward the truck, shouting at staff members to stay in their offices. Rabbi Gordon did as she had been trained, using a texting platform to notify teachers that there was an emergency. Teachers shut doors and barricaded them with overturned tables. Ms. Cohen, fighting an urge to flee, also did as she was told, locking her office door, pulling down the window shade and huddling under her desk.
Within five minutes, police officers had arrived at the synagogue, the wail of their sirens loud enough to be heard for miles.
The children were quickly taken out of the building and brought to a safe location nearby where their parents picked them up. Many were too young to really understand what had happened.
Today we’re finally learning what motivated Ayman Ghazali to carry out this attack. The FBI issued an update on the case that detailed Ghazali’s commitment to Hezbollah and his desire to carry out an attack on Jews inspired by Iran.
Special agent in charge for the Detroit Field Office Jennifer Runyon said, “A review of his online activity since January 2026 revealed a reoccurring search history of pro-Hezbollah news channels, Iranian news channels and videos about shootouts about shootouts and bullets.
“He regularly consumed breaking news and statements and live coverage of the current Secretary General of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, and viewed news coverage about an Iranian fatwa for total jihad against the US military.”
Starting on March 9th, just days before the attack, Ghazali started searching the web for information on local synagogues. He then tried to buy a gun from people he knew. Both of the people he approached refused and he wound up buying an AR at a gun store in Dearborn Heights.
Next he began searching for fireworks vendors and wound up buying more than $2,000 worth of fireworks the next day. He also spent part of the day at a shooting range.
On March 11, the day before the attack, he created a photo album called “Vengeance” which he filled with images of the deceased Ayatollah Khamenei and Hasan Nasrallah. He spent the rest of the day making multiple trips to the gas station to fill up large containers with gasoline which he later packed into the bed of his truck with the fireworks.
On the morning of the attack he filmed a series of videos which he later uploaded while he was sitting in the Temple Israel parking lot. Here’s how SAC Runyon described them. “In the background of these videos…are Arabic anthems…that have the themes of resistance and military defiance,” she said. She continued, “While he’s sitting the parking lot he sends his sister overseas 19 videos, photos and messages that reiterated his intent to commit a mass terrorist attack as well as affirming his Hezbollah inspired ideology.”
Minutes before the attack he sent two final videos to his sister. One of them said that Temple Israel was the largest gathering of Jews in the United States. “I have booby-trapped the car. I will forcibly enter and start shooting them,” he said.
Obviously, none of that worked out for him. He shot no one except himself.
After the attack there were news reports that Ghazali had lost family members in airstrikes in Lebanon. At first it seemed as if the media were trying to generate some sympathy for him. Then it turned out that his dead brother was a leader in Hezbollah, which is why he’d been targeted. It bothers me that the most successful part of his entire operation were those media reports suggesting he was a victim rather than a terrorist sympathizer who tried to murder a bunch of Jewish children.
Here’s the full press conference from earlier today.
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