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In what might be categorized as stating the obvious, the recent incident at the Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan has officially been recognized as a terrorist attack. The shooting, which took place on March 12th, has gone through the necessary investigative processes to reach this conclusion, confirming the gravity of the event.
While this may not come as a surprise, one notable aspect of the situation is that the attacker, Ayman Ghasali, ultimately took his own life. This unfortunate yet not unusual outcome spares the community the drawn-out process and costs associated with a trial.
What adds another layer to this story is the background of Ghasali himself. Questions arise about what was known about him prior to his arrival in the United States and his subsequent naturalization as a U.S. citizen. This occurred in 2016, during the final year of Barack Obama’s presidency. It raises concerns about the vetting processes in place at the time and how such individuals are granted citizenship.
Federal officials on Monday for the first time labeled the March 12 attack at a Michigan synagogue as an act of terrorism inspired by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997.
Ayman Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Lebanon, rammed an explosive-laden truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, near Detroit. According to investigators, Ghazali was also armed with a rifle and killed himself after exchanging gunfire with the synagogue’s security guards.
The one good thing to come out of this matter was the goblin’s self-elimination. That’s not uncommon in these kinds of things, but at least the taxpayers get spared the expense of a trial.
What’s interesting here is the background of this Ayman Ghasali:
“He committed the terrorism crime of providing material support to Hezbollah,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Eastern Michigan Jerome Gorgon told CBS News, explaining that the attack itself was the support for Hezbollah under federal law.
Ghazali lived in nearby Dearborn, Michigan, and worked at a local restaurant. He became a naturalized citizen in 2016. His two brothers stayed behind in Lebanon and were members of Hezbollah’s rocket unit, which was first reported by CBS News, according to sources in southern Lebanon. The brothers and other family members were killed in a March 5 drone attack by the Israel Defense Forces targeting Hezbollah outposts, sources told CBS News.
Did anyone know this before Ghazali came to the United States? Before we made him a United States citizen? In 2016, that would have been during the last year of the presidency of Barack Obama.