WEST BLOOMFIELD (WWJ) -- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is speaking out the day following an attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, the largest reform synagogue in the country.
At a news conference Friday morning, Whitmer thanked the private security, first responders, and law enforcement officers who kept everyone safe.
"These heroes threw themselves in harm's way engaging the suspect," Whitmer said. "And, let's be very clear: Yes, this is a place of worship, but at the time this attack occurred, it was a school."
Whitmer said Michigander need to come together, and keep each other close at this time. "This community is on the edge, very understandably," she said. "We've seen a rise in attacks, especially over the last decade, especially over the last ten months. And so it is important for us to stand up, and stand against it."
On Thursday, 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, rammed his truck into the building, on Walnut Lake Rd., where a preschool and daycare was in session.
Ghazali was fatally shot by security, a fire broke out, but kids or staff in the early childhood center we injured.
"I want Michigan's Jewish community to know that we are with you," Whitmer said. "Violence in our houses of worship, and in our schools, and our daycare centers like this hits especially hard."
"Yesterday's attack was antisemitism, it was hate, plain and simple," Whitmer said. "We will fight this ancient and rampant evil. We will stand together, and we will call it out. We must lower the rhetoric, in this state and in this country, especially in this moment."
WWJ Newsradio 950's Charlie Langton asked Whitmer if she thinks this happened because of the war in Iran.
"Putting my theories into the press is not going to help an investigation, so I'm going to refrain from that," Whitmer said. "I do know that we have seen a rise in antisemitism, we have seen it over many years, predating the conflict."
"But certainly, it is at a historic high," the governor added, "and I worry that that will continue. And that's why I'm calling on anyone with a platform to be very responsible with their rhetoric; not to identify or target the Jewish community. That is antisemitism writ large, and I don't any of us should permit or allow that to stand.
"And that's why I'm asking people to turn down the rhetoric."
Given the diversity of Metro Detroit — home to hundreds of thousands of people of Middle Eastern decent — Whitmer was asked what message she could share to help lower the temperature.
"I am trying to deliver that message right now: That we are Michiganders, this was a school. These are zero to 5-year-olds that were targeted yesterday," the governor said.
While no children or teachers were hurt, Whitmer noted that this could have gone a different way, looking "a lot more like Sandy Hook."
Whitmer was referencing a tragic 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 people — including 20 first-graders and six educators — were killed.
"Let's not lose sight of that," the governor said. "This is not a political moment; this is not a political debate. This is targeting babies who are Jewish! That's antisemitism at its absolute worst. And that's why we cannot lose sight of that — the importance of keeping everyone in Michigan safe by being responsible in how we talk about issues and how we treat one another."
FBI, state and local law enforcement have said the investigation into the attack is ongoing.
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