Michigan Senate Passes Anti-Terrorism Bill After West Bloomfield Synagogue Attack

Michigan lawmakers are pushing for stronger anti-terrorism laws following a deadly attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.

The Michigan Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 502 on March 19, legislation designed to update the state's anti-terrorism statute with an intent requirement for prosecuting threats. The bill now heads to the Michigan House of Representatives for consideration.

The legislation comes in response to the March 12 attack on Temple Israel, where a lone gunman drove his car through the front doors of the West Bloomfield synagogue. The FBI described the incident as a targeted act of domestic terrorism against the Jewish community. The attacker was confronted by security guards and later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Stronger Penalties for Terrorist Threats

Senate Bill 502, introduced by state Senators Sue Shink of Northfield Township and Rosemary Bayer of Beverly Hills, would amend the current anti-terrorism law to make it a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison for those who make terroristic threats with reckless disregard that their communications would be viewed as threatening violence.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel called the change a much-needed statutory update following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that altered the legal standard for proving true threats.

"These laws quite simply are murder prevention," Nessel said. "Michigan's existing anti-terrorism law has saved lives and has been instrumental in prosecuting threats against schools, law enforcement, judicial officers and elected officials on both sides of the aisle. We cannot allow divided government to weaken our ability to respond to threats of terrorism."

Local Lawmakers Push for Action

State Representative Noah Arbit, who represents District 20 and includes West Bloomfield in his district, joined Attorney General Nessel and other Jewish lawmakers at a press conference in Detroit on Monday. Arbit has personal ties to Temple Israel, having attended Hebrew school and been bar mitzvah'd at the congregation.

Arbit said concerns about antisemitism in the Jewish community predate the attack.

"American Jews have been told to not believe our eyes or our ears as individuals and movements hostile to our very existence have grown in stature, support and power," Arbit said.

Representative Samantha Steckloff of District 19, who is also a member of Temple Israel, praised the synagogue's security team for their response to the attack. She said she plans to push for additional funding for safety measures at Jewish facilities across the state.

"We've seen how those dollars worked, we've seen how the training working. So we want to make sure every congregation in the state, make sure every school, Jewish schools and community centers have those same dollars," Steckloff said.

Broader Legislative Response

State Senator Jeremy Moss of District 7, also a member of Temple Israel, emphasized that legislation alone will not be enough to address the rise in antisemitism. Moss called on Michigan residents to speak out in their own communities.

"We have to tamper it down in our own circles. If you hear something that sounds like an antisemitic conspiracy theory in your group chats, you have to be fearless to say I'm not comfortable with the direction of this conversation," Moss said.

Oakland County Treasurer Robert Wittenberg also spoke at the conference, calling the attack intolerable.

"This is intolerable and people need to stand up and say enough is enough," Wittenberg said.

Funding Already Approved

The current state budget includes $4 million allocated to the Jewish Federation of Detroit for community safety measures. This funding helped ensure that all children and staff at Temple Israel's early childhood learning center made their way home safely following the attack, officials said.

What's Next for SB 502

The bill passed unanimously in the Senate but still requires House action to become law. It is not immediately clear if House Republicans would support the legislation or additional safety funding for Jewish cultural and religious sites.

A request for comment was left with the office of House Speaker Matt Hall of Richland Township.

The Senate bill also explicitly criminalizes when someone threatens to commit an act of terrorism and communicates the threat with reckless disregard of a substantial risk that the communication would be viewed as threatening violence.

Rising Concerns

The Temple Israel attack was at least the 18th physical attack on a U.S. synagogue in the past decade, according to the Anti-Defederation League, which says violent antisemitism has accelerated sharply in recent years.

Federal officials have identified the attacker as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized citizen born in Lebanon. Reports from the Associated Press indicate Ghazali waited in his car outside the synagogue for two hours ahead of the attack and was armed with a rifle, commercial grade fireworks and jugs of liquid believed to be gasoline.

Israeli military officials have alleged Ghazali's brother, Ibrahim Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander who managed weapons for a unit that fired rockets at Israel.

The Michigan House is expected to reconvene on April 14, 2026, providing a timeline for potential action on the anti-terrorism legislation.