How Synagogue Terrorist Ended Up A U.S. Citizen Goes Back To Obama Era

The man who targeted Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on Thursday has been identified as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a Lebanese national who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016 under the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News.

Ghazali ran his car into Temple Israel, the largest Reform Judaism congregation in the United States, and opened fire with a rifle on Thursday. He was pronounced dead at the scene after the synagogue’s security engaged him with gunfire.

Ghazali was born in Lebanon in 1985 and first entered the United States in 2011 on an immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the Department of Homeland Security said. After he applied for naturalization in October 2015, he was granted citizenship in February 2016. 

One security guard was injured as a result of being struck by the attacker’s vehicle, but is in stable condition. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard confirmed that no one else was injured in the attack. Temple Israel runs a drive-thru food pantry on Thursdays and has a preschool that was in session. The synagogue said on Thursday that “all 140 students in our Susan and Harold Loss Early Childhood Center, our amazing staff, our courageous teachers, and our heroic security personnel are all accounted for and safe.”

The attack comes amid a heightened concern over terror attacks after President Donald Trump launched “Operation Epic Fury” in Iran. Abroad, at least 11 U.S. soldiers have been killed during the operation, with about 140 others wounded.

Trump was briefed on Wednesday on the possibility of Iranian sleeper cells being activated in the United States. The president responded, “We know where most of them are. We have our eyes on all of them — I think.”

This week alone, two men who pledged their allegiance to ISIS attempted to throw a bomb into a crowd of protesters, and at least one person was killed in another shooting at Old Dominion University.

The Old Dominion University shooter was identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former National Guard soldier who was previously convicted of supporting ISIS, according to multiple reports.

Jalloh, 36, discussed plans to carry out a Fort Hood-style attack with a government informant he believed was an ISIS terrorist, according to NBC4 Washington. Jalloh was sentenced to 11 years behind bars and an additional five years of supervised release.

He was let out early in December 2024, according to the New York Post.

Jalloh, who is a naturalized American citizen from Sierra Leone, stormed into a classroom on Thursday and asked if it was an ROTC course, according to the New York Post. When someone confirmed that it was, he opened fire, shooting the professor several times.

The professor, a retired military officer, died at the hospital, according to the news outlet. One of the students heroically stabbed Jalloh to death to stop him from harming others.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed on X that one person is dead and two others were wounded in the shooting.

Jennie Taer contributed to this report.