FBI says Temple Israel attack in Michigan was Hezbollah-inspired terrorism
The FBI said the March 12 attack at Temple Israel in Michigan was a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism that deliberately targeted the Jewish community.
The attack happened at about 12:19 p.m. on March 12, when 41-year-old Ayman Mohamed Ghazali rammed his truck into door 5 at Temple Israel, hit it twice and then drove about 200 feet down a hallway, according to Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office.
Between 12:20 p.m. and 12:22 p.m., he exchanged gunfire with Temple Israel security guards before apparently setting off fireworks inside the vehicle. By 12:30 p.m., the truck was on fire and the hall was filled with smoke.
Ghazali was the only person killed. A security guard was injured after being struck by the vehicle, and 63 law enforcement officers were taken to hospitals for smoke inhalation.
The FBI has classified the attack as a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism that purposely targeted the Jewish community and Temple Israel, which Runyan described as the largest Jewish temple in Michigan.
According to Runyan, a review of Ghazali’s online activity showed recurring searches since January 2026 for pro-Hezbollah news channels, Iranian news channels, videos about shootouts and bullets, and coverage of statements by Hezbollah’s current secretary general.
He also viewed reports about an Iranian fatwa calling for total jihad against the U.S. military.
The FBI said Ghazali’s mobilization toward violence began in earnest on March 9, when he started viewing pages for local synagogues and tried to buy a weapon from two different people.
After they refused, he bought an AR-style rifle at a gun store in Dearborn Heights, along with 10 rifle magazines and about 300 rounds of .223 ammunition.
While at the store, he also ordered a rifle magazine pouch and 40 water containers online, then began researching local fireworks vendors.
Through the night of March 9 and into March 10, Ghazali visited webpages for Jewish cultural, educational and religious centers across the Detroit metro area and looked at multiple Temple Israel event pages.
The FBI also recovered deleted searches including “the largest gathering of Israelis in Michigan,” “Orthodox synagogues,” “Israelis near me,” “what time is the Trump rally in Michigan” and a center affiliated with the Israeli Consulate General in Michigan.
At about 1 p.m. on March 10, Ghazali went to a shooting range and practiced with the rifle. About an hour later, he bought more than $2,200 worth of fireworks from a local vendor.
On March 11, Ghazali began adding photos to a Facebook album titled “vengeance,” including images of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with Arabic text that said: “Burn their world, for we have a vendetta against them that we will never forget.”
Later that day, after the 40 water containers were delivered at 2:22 p.m., the FBI said he began organizing his truck and made four separate gas stops so he could fill the containers without drawing too much suspicion. By 10:50 p.m., he had made a final stop at a gas station and bought two torch lighters.
The FBI believes he used about 45 gallons of gasoline in the attack.
On the morning of the attack, Ghazali posted photos of his deceased family members on Facebook, searched for rifle accessories and a double magazine holster, and left for Temple Israel at 9:18 a.m., arriving at 9:58 a.m.
At 10:12 a.m., while sitting in the parking lot, he posted four videos recorded during the drive to Temple Israel with Arabic anthems playing in the background.
From about 10:34 a.m., Ghazali sent his sister overseas 19 videos, photos and messages that the FBI said reaffirmed his intent to carry out a mass attack and his Hezbollah-inspired ideology.
Runyan said that in one of the videos, Ghazali yells “Allahu Akbar” and declares his total devotion to God, saying he is answering his call to heaven. About 10 minutes before the attack, Ghazali sent two final videos.
In one video recorded in Arabic, he said: “This is the largest gathering of Israelis in the state of Michigan in the United States. I have booby-trapped the car. I will forcefully enter and start shooting them. God willing, I will kill as many of them as I possibly can.” He then sent a three-second video and typed: “A special operation.”
During that period, Ghazali also exchanged five short phone calls with his ex-wife, who called the Dearborn Heights Police Department and asked officers to do a welfare check on him.
“That last video, where he is basically issuing a statement of his why, is, ‘I planned to kill as many,’ and ‘I booby-trapped the car,’ and I think in his mind he was trying to cause a mass amount of damage as quickly as possible to a set of over 100 kids who were just going to school that day,” Runyan said.
Asked whether the attack was planned in response to the deaths of Ghazali’s family members in an Israeli strike in Lebanon on March 5, Runyan said investigators found he had been consuming pro-Hezbollah material before they were killed and said it was “almost immaterial” because the attack targeted people who had nothing to do with his family.
She said Ghazali was a U.S. citizen with no criminal history, had not previously been the subject of any FBI investigation, was not on the terrorist watchlist, and showed no evidence of having physically surveilled Temple Israel before the attack.
The FBI has found no evidence of co-conspirators and no information indicating an active threat to the community. Runyan said the investigation remains ongoing.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
