Jihadi gunman in Michigan synagogue attack ID'd as Lebanese-born immigrant

Authorities identified the suspect in Thursday's brazen attack on Temple Israel, a Reform synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, as Ayman, wait for it . . .  Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old Lebanese-born man who entered the United States in 2011 and became a naturalized citizen in 2016 after arriving in the US in 2011.

Ghazali, who worked in a restaurant in Dearborn Heights, is dead after a shootout with armed security on the temple grounds.

"We can't say what killed him at this point," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at a news conference, "but security did engage the suspect with gunfire." It's possible this jihadi killed himself and hopes to get his 72 virgins, but it becomes null and void if he offed himself, or so they say.

The suspect drove his vehicle into the building and then shots were fired, the West Bloomfield police department confirmed.

Ghazali was armed with a rifle and killed in the exchange with synagogue security, according to reports.

His vehicle caught fire, burning inside the structure. Bouchard noted that the suspect's truck struck a security guard, knocking him unconscious, marking the only reported injury from the incident. Law enforcement also discovered what appeared to be explosives in the back of the vehicle.

Those inside the synagogue and in surrounding areas were told to shelter in place while police worked to determine if anyone else was involved. Several children were evacuated from the building and moved to a safer location.

"We just tell people [to] shelter in place for at least a mile area until we determine that there's no one else that maybe was on foot and fled the area, until we figure out exactly what's going on," Bouchard said.

Bouchard added that "Jewish facilities in the area are going to have a lot of extra presence around it until we figure this out."

Temple Israel released a statement on Facebook declaring that it "was the victim of a terrorist gunman who was confronted and neutralized by our security personnel." All 140 students attending classes at the time, along with teachers and staff, are "accounted for and safe," the synagogue thankfully confirmed. 

This incident comes amid heightened security at synagogues nationwide following the surge in anti-Semitic violence since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks. The Anti-Defamation League's 2024 audit highlighted a sharp rise in bomb threats and other harassment targeting synagogues, including messages like: "You Jews will pay for your crimes, we will end your lives," along with anti-Israel content. Sounds like the criminals are projecting a wee bit.

Other recent cases include, wait for it . . .  Mohamed . . .  Sabry Soliman, charged with hate crimes last June for throwing Molotov cocktails at pro-Israel demonstrators while yelling "Free Palestine," and Elias Rodriguez, who shot and killed two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. the prior month. When caught, Rodriguez declared, "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza."

FBI Director Kash Patel separately confirmed that federal authorities "are on the scene with partners in Michigan."

Thanks for following Brain Flushings, guys. Please consider subscribing, and if you would like to support my work, visit the sponsors on this page, or you can Buy Me A Coffee. 

Tweet

Parents of Oxford School shooter captured

The parents of the Oxford school shooter, accused of killing four students, were bagged early Saturday just hours after charges were filed against them for involuntary manslaughter.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were captured in Detroit in a commercial building that housed artwork, much like the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia. [Nice place to visit, by the way.]

Detroit Police Chief James E. White said at a news conference that the couple “were aided in getting into the building,” and that a person who helped them may also face charges.

A Detroit business owner spotted a car tied to the Crumbleys in his parking lot late Friday, Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe said in a statement. A woman seen near the vehicle ran from the scene when the business owner called 911, McCabe said. The couple was later found and arrested by Detroit police. 

They were obviously not so worried about their safety as they were staying gone from the cops.

The Crumbleys committed “egregious” acts, from buying a gun on Black Friday and making it available to Ethan Crumbley to resisting his removal from school when they were summoned a few hours before the shooting, Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said.

Authorities had been looking for the couple since Friday afternoon. Late Friday, U.S. Marshals announced a reward of up to $10,000 each for information leading to their arrests.

The Crumbley’s lawyer, Shannon Smith, said the couple had left town earlier in the week “for their own safety.” Smith told The Associated Press they would be returning to Oxford to be arraigned.

However, White said the Crumbleys “appeared to be hiding” in the building where they were found, probably not "for their own safety." They appeared to be “distressed” when they were captured, White added. “Head down... just very upset.” 

The couple was expected to be booked into the Oakland County Jail, McCabe said.

Their son, 15, emerged from a bathroom at the school with a gun, shooting students in the hallway, investigators said. He’s charged as an adult with murder, terrorism and other crimes.

Under Michigan law, the involuntary manslaughter charge filed against the parents can be pursued if authorities believe someone contributed to a situation where there was a high chance of harm or death. They can each get 15 years in stir, coincidentally, the age of their son, an alleged murderer and terrorist.

Just hours before the shooting rampage, the shooter and his parents were hauled into the school over his "behavior in the classroom" to meet with administrators a short time before the teenager came out of the bathroom and began shooting. It left four students dead and seven others wounded, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on Wednesday.

“We also were told that the school had some information or some kind of contact with the school,” Bouchard said at a press briefing.

“We have since learned that the school did have contact with the student the day before and the day of the shooting for behaviors in the classroom that they felt was concerning,” he said. “In fact, the parents were brought in the morning of the shooting and had a face-to-face meeting with the school. The content of that meeting of course is part of the investigation.”Crumbley reportedly had a school meeting with his parents about his behavior right before the shooting.

* * *

Why not subscribe to Brain Flushings and check out the ads on these pages. It costs nothing to subscribe and it's worth every penny. And remember, every time you click on an ad, you help in the fight against the tech giants.

* * *

Bouchard said school officials told investigators there was no record that Crumbley had ever been bullied, despite reports from other students that he had been targeted.

The sheriff said there was no indication that the shooter had ever been expelled from the school or had disciplinary issues before. Also, there are no records that the shooter had been bullied.

However, at his arraignment in Michigan’s 52nd District Court later on Wednesday, attorney Nadine Hatten told Judge Nancy Karniak that she had represented Crumbley “on a juvenile matter,” but did not specify.

Oakland County Sheriff’s Lt. Timothy Willis told the judge the teen had shot a video the day before the shootings and had a journal in his backpack that suggested he planned the attack — but did not provide details.

Tweet

MI Township says "no" to Syrian refugees

Oakland County, Michigan -- Waterford Township trustees unanimously passed a resolution Monday telling the feds not to send any Syrian refugees their way until the vetting program "has been significantly reformed."

The resolution stated: "[T]he Charter Township of Waterford will not actively participate in the Refugee Resettlement Program until the Program has been significantly reformed, and until ht has been demonstrated that the Townships of Oakland County have the capacity to absorb refugees without diverting funds from needy residents or exposing their residents to unwarranted security risks."

For more on this problem, read my last blog entry here. 

Waterford Township's population of 72,000 is located in the geographic center of Oakland County, which has a population of 1.2 million.

The resolution passed just prior to the Thomas More Law Center announced that it has been selected to represent Tennessee in its suit against the federal government on Tenth Amendment grounds over the operation of the refugee resettlement program by the feds in Tennessee.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said he intends to sue the federal government for resettling refugees in the county but failing to comply with the "consultation clause" in the Refugee Act of 1980 requiring the feds and the director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement to consult with state and local government officials prior to the placement of refugees within their jurisdictions.

Syrian refugee women shortage

"The resolution, which has been pushed by the Oakland County Association of Township Supervisors, states that the federal Refugee Resettlement Program creates significant financial burdens for communities to mee the needs of the refugees, WWJ, the CBS (local of Detroit) reported.

One Watership Township resident complained, "We've got so many people who need jobs in Waterford, what are you gonna do with the refugees that come in here? You're gonna feed them? You're gonna clothe them? You're gonna house them? We can't afford that; we've got veterans that need help."

Another resident, possibly a low-information liberal who doesn't see the potential problems said, "I've lived here my entire life. I've never been embarrassed to be a Waterford citizen until I saw this resolution." 

However, he did not offer to take in any of the refugees into his own home or have any live next door to him.



Tweet