Authorities have described the March 12 synagogue attack as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.
FBI investigating shooting at Temple Israel Synagogue near Detroit
The gunman is dead after a shooting at a synagogue in the Detroit area.
Vice President J.D. Vance, speaking near the synagogue, called the man who crashed a truck into Michigan’s Temple Israel a “terrorist” as investigators looked into the motive for an arson attack that injured a security guard and caused a preschooler inside the temple to flee.
“When something happens to someone in our American family, it’s something we all have to stand up and say, it’s disgusting, it’s unacceptable, and we’re not going to tolerate it in the United States of America,” Vance said on March 16 during a stop in Auburn Hills, Michigan, north of Detroit.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the attack and have not yet ruled it a terrorist attack.
Ayman Mohammad Ghazali, 41, a Lebanese-born naturalized U.S. citizen, drove into a synagogue in West Bloomfield Township on Thursday, March 12, and opened fire on security guards in the synagogue hallway. Ghazali died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the FBI announced last week.
No worshipers were injured in the attack, nor were dozens of children and teachers in the synagogue’s early learning center. Synagogue leaders said a nearby country club picked up three school buses filled with children while law enforcement was on the scene.
Officials said Danny Phillips, the security guard who was hit by Ghazali’s truck, is expected to survive.
Vance called Phillips a hero and “the greatest man in this country.”
“We love you and we’re proud of how you handled this particular situation, which is tough,” he said of Michigan’s Jewish community.
Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, declined to provide a motive after the attack, but said it was a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community. Amid the Iran war and escalating military conflicts across the Middle East, authorities are increasing security around places of worship.
Residents of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, where Ghazali lived, said several members of his Lebanese family, including his niece, nephew and brother, were killed in the Israeli airstrike. The Israel Defense Forces said Ghazali’s brother, Ibrahim Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander.
In response to a question about how the Trump administration is protecting Americans from future attacks amid the Iran war, Vance said preventing terrorism is a “relentless focus of the entire U.S. government.”
“We’re monitoring confidential matters, calls, things like that,” he said during a visit to Auburn Hills.
Vance’s comments mark his first public response since the attack occurred on Thursday, March 12th. President Donald Trump previously vowed to “get to the bottom” of the attack.
“It’s terrible, but it’s still going on. We’re going to investigate it thoroughly,” Trump said. He called the event “tragic.”
Vance made the remarks during a March 16 visit to Engineering Design Services, a manufacturing facility in eastern Michigan. He was joined by Second Lady Usha Vance and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin.
Contributed by: Christopher Cann, Melissa Nann Burke, USA TODAY Network
