JD Vance praises 'hero' security guard after attack on Michigan synagogue

Vice President JD Vance called the man who rammed his truck into Michigan's Temple Israel a "terrorist" while speaking near the synagogue, as investigators hunt for a motive in the attack that wounded a security guard and set a fire that sent preschoolers in the temple fleeing.

“When something happens to any member of our American family … it is something that all of us have to stand up and say, it’s disgusting, it’s unacceptable and we’re not going to tolerate in the United States of America," Vance said March 16 during a stop in Auburn Hills, Michigan, north of Detroit.

Authorities are still investigating the attack and have not yet described it as terrorism.

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, drove his vehicle into the synagogue in West Bloomfield Township and opened fire upon security guards in the synagogue’s hallways on Thursday, March 12. Ghazali died in the attack from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the FBI said last week.

No congregants were injured in the attack, nor were the dozens of children and teachers at the synagogue's Early Childhood Learning Center. Synagogue leaders said a nearby country club took in three school buses full of children as law enforcement responded to the scene.

Officials said Danny Phillips, the security guard hit by Ghazali’s truck, is expected to survive.  

Vance called Phillips a hero and the "very best of this country."

"We love you and we’re proud of how you’ve handled this particular situation because it is tough," he said of Michigan's Jewish community.

Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit field office, declined to declare a motive following the attack, but described it as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community. Authorities have increased security around houses of worship amid the war in Iran and widening military conflict across the Middle East.

Residents of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, where Ghazali lived, said several members of his family in Lebanon, including his niece, nephew and brother, were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israel Defense Forces said Ghazali's brother, Ibrahim Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander.

When asked how the Trump administration is protecting Americans from future attacks amid the war in Iran, Vance said preventing terrorism is an “obsessive focus of the entire U.S. government.” 

“We’re monitoring some classified stuff, some phone calls, things like that,” he said during his visit to Auburn Hills.

Vance’s comments marked his first public response to the attack since it happened Thursday, March 12. President Donald Trump previously vowed to get “down to the bottom” of the attack. 

"It's a terrible thing, but it goes on. We're going to be right down to the bottom of it," Trump said. He called the event “tragic.”  

Vance delivered the remarks during a March 16 trip to Engineering Design Services, a manufacturing facility in eastern Michigan. He was joined by second lady Usha Vance and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin.

Contributing: Christopher Cann, Melissa Nann Burke, USA TODAY Network