DETROIT — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and several state lawmakers Monday pushed for action against terrorism and antisemitism in the wake of an attack on a West Bloomfield Township synagogue last week, including updating the state's anti-terrorism law and funding security measures for Jewish congregations.

A gunman rammed through Temple Israel's front doors last Thursday and exchanged gunfire with security before taking his own life. The synagogue's director of security was injured in the attack.

Nessel, Oakland County Treasurer Robert Wittenberg and three state lawmakers who represent Oakland County held a news conference in Detroit on Monday and spoke about tackling antisemitism. All of the officials are Jewish.

"What happened last week at Temple Israel was not random, and it wasn't spontaneous," Nessel said. "It didn't just occur in a vacuum. Many of us, myself included, have been sounding the alarm about the terrifying rise of hate crimes and especially antisemitism for nearly eight years now."

Nessel pushed for the passage of Senate Bill 502, which would amend the Michigan Anti-Terrorism Act to specify that a person who threatened to commit an act of terrorism and communicated the threat with reckless disregard of a substantial risk that the communication would be viewed as threatening violence would be guilty of a felony punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment or a maximum fine of $20,000, or both, according to an analysis of the bill. The bill is sponsored by state Sen. Sue Shink, D-Northfield Township.

"Michigan's anti-terrorism statute has saved many lives and has been instrumental in prosecuting threats against schools, law enforcement, judicial officers and elected officials on both sides of the aisle," Nessel said, "so this minor statutory change should have broad-based support."

The attack against Temple Israel comes amid a wave of violence targeting synagogues in North America. In Toronto alone, three synagogues have been hit by gunfire this month, according to authorities there.

Ayman Ghalazi of Dearborn Heights allegedly sat in his truck for more than two hours Thursday morning before carrying out his attack against Temple Israel. More than 100 children were in school at the synagogue when it happened, but no one was injured.

Ibrahim Ghazali ― Ghalazi's brother ― was a Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli airstrike, the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday.The FBI is leading the investigation into what happened at Temple Israel. Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit field office, declined to specify a motive following Thursday's attack, but indicated it is being treated as a "targeted" act of violence against the Jewish community.

Millions spent on security, training

State Rep. Samantha Steckloff, a Farmington Hills Democrat who was one of the state lawmakers at Monday's news conference, said that over the past several years, Michigan has appropriated around $19 million in security funding for the Jewish community to support training, coordination with law enforcement and facilities' security improvements. Steckloff said the state appropriated an additional $4 million in the current year's budget.

"We have seen the spike in antisemitism and the targets of houses of worships around Metro Detroit," she said, "but because of the attack on Thursday, we've noticed and we've seen how those dollars worked. We've seen how the training worked. So we want to make sure that every congregation in this state, make sure that every school, Jewish schools, and our Jewish community centers have the opportunity for those same dollars and those same trainings."

Steckloff said she and other lawmakers will be asking for money in the upcoming state budget for security measures. She said she is working with the Jewish Federation to "find out what that number might be."

Senate Bill 502

Senate Bill 502, the legislation Nessel is advocating for, comes in response to a Michigan Court of Appeals decision, which deemed Michigan’s anti-terrorism law unconstitutional, according to a press release by the Michigan Department of Attorney General. Nessel filed an amicus brief in support of the emergency application filed by the Wayne County prosecutor with the Michigan Supreme Court, which later vacated and remanded the decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ultimately upheld the constitutionality of the law, and it urged the state Legislature to clarify and update the statute to prevent future challenges, the Michigan Department of Attorney General said. Senate Bill 502 would clarify the standards of the anti-terrorism statute to ensure prosecutors can continue to charge individuals who make credible violent threats, according to the department.

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