Michigan synagogue attack was 'hate, plain and simple', says governor

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said an incident where a vehicle was rammed into a synagogue near Detroit on Thursday was antisemitism and "hate, plain and simple".

The FBI is investigating the incident at the Temple Israel as a "targeted act of violence against the Jewish community", but a motive for the crime remains unclear.

No staff or children at the synagogue and its attached school were hurt. A security guard was being treated for injuries and was expected to recover, law enforcement said.

The suspect, identified as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, drove "with purpose down the hall of the building" before he was "neutralised" by security guards, police said. The vehicle then caught fire.

Rabbi Jen Lader, of Temple Israel, who was at a nearby community centre moments after the incident, described the moments after the attack as "sheer terror".

"American Judaism is such these days that every synagogue is a target. Every synagogue is aware that we need to take precautions to keep our people safe," she told the BBC, adding that the temple had trained in preparation for similar incidents.

"It's a nightmare that we have to have an armed full-time security team in order for people to feel safe coming to synagogue," she said.

During her remarks on Friday morning, Governor Whitmer said antisemitism had been rising in the US.

"We will fight this ancient and rampant evil. We will stand together as we do it," Whitmer said, adding: "We must lower the rhetoric in this state and in this country."

The Jewish community, particularly in the West Bloomfield suburb of Detroit where Temple Israel is located, is now on edge, she said.

Kids aged from zero to five years old were targeted in the attack, Whitmer said, noting that Temple Israel - one of the largest reform Jewish synagogues in the US - evacuated more than 100 young children from its preschool.

Michigan Senator Elisa Slotkin, who grew up in the area and said she spent a lot of time around the temple while growing up, echoed that sentiment at the news conference.

Slotkin, a Democrat, said that whether antisemitism is coming from the left or the right of the political spectrum, the public has a responsibility to call it out so that it does not escalate into violence.

"The Jewish community suffers ten times the number of hate crimes than any other community in this country," the senator said. "So it is an epidemic."

Until the country pushes back on antisemitism, "we're going to see incidents like this continue to proliferate", she added.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said that in addition to the injured security guard, 30 law enforcement officers were being treated for smoke inhalation.

The US Department of Homeland Security identified the suspect as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalised US citizen who was born in Lebanon and came to the US in 2011.

Police did not say how the suspect had died. Bouchard said it was difficult to determine the suspect's cause of death because the vehicle caught fire.