Iran war puts many in US on high alert, but synagogue attack shows limits

• Summary

• Lone-wolf attacks in Virginia, Michigan underscore threat to US

• Suspect in Michigan attack reportedly had relatives killed in Lebanon

• Multiple security scares recorded across US since US, Israel launched attacks on Iran

• Trump administration slashed staff in DHS intelligence agency

• Critics say DHS focused on mass deportations over security threats

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement officials are on heightened alert ​as the Iran war enters its third week, but the limits of their vigilance were on display as seeming lone-wolf attacks unfolded more than 500 miles apart in Virginia and Michigan on ‌Thursday alone.

In Michigan, where a Lebanon-born man rammed an explosives-laden truck into the Temple Israel synagogue, it appeared to be one of the first known instances of a specific bombing in the Iran war leading to retaliatory violence on American soil since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

Although authorities have not announced a motive, the man, identified by U.S. officials as Ayman Ghazali, carried out his attack a week after Israel bombed his family’s town in Lebanon on March 5, killing two of his brothers ​and a niece and nephew, according to news reports.

Around the same time as the synagogue attack, a man who was previously convicted of supporting a designated terrorist group fatally shot one person and injured ​two others, both U.S. Army personnel, at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, which has close ties to the U.S. military. The attacker was killed.

SELF-RADICALIZED ATTACKERS HARDEST ⁠TO DETECT

These kinds of lone-wolf outbursts of retaliatory violence are the hardest to spot in advance and intercept, counter-terrorism experts say.

“Someone who is self-radicalized, a lone wolf, is the hardest to track,” said Kenneth Gray, a former ​FBI counter-terrorism agent who now teaches at the University of New Haven. “Normally there would be opportunities to track weapon transfers, foreign training, or transfers of funds. We apparently have none of that.”

The latest incidents took place with the ​U.S. engaged in what is already a deeply unpopular war among American voters, which was launched after President Donald Trump made drastic cuts to the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence unit.

Except for a security guard knocked down when the truck crashed through the entrance, everyone at the synagogue, including the children at its preschool, escaped unharmed, although dozens of law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation. Ghazali, who became a U.S. citizen in 2016 and lived in nearby Dearborn Heights, was killed by synagogue security staff.

Shawn Brokos, ​who was an FBI official in Pittsburgh when 11 people were killed in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018, credited Temple Israel for a “textbook reaction” that protected those inside.

The attack also showed the need for ​vigilance, she said, to be alert for someone who might be embracing “a grievance narrative.”

“They’re upset about current events,” said Brokos, now the director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. “They’re starting to access weapons. They’re starting to make ‌plans. These ⁠are all the things that are helpful for us to know so we can do these checks and share it with law enforcement.”

Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun said Ghazali’s attack must be unequivocally condemned, and also noted Ghazali had been affected by the Iran war, in which more than 2,000 people have been killed, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.

“The tensions we see across the world too often find their way into our own neighborhoods, reminding us how deeply connected our shared safety is,” Baydoun said in a statement.

MULTIPLE SECURITY INCIDENTS, FEWER IN DHS INTELLIGENCE

Since the war began, security scares have affected airports in Kansas City and the Washington, D.C. suburbs; two men were charged with terrorism-related ​crimes after throwing home-made bombs at an anti-Muslim rally ​in New York City; and a man who expressed ⁠pro-Iran views online killed four people after opening fire at a bar in Austin, Texas.

Trump has sought to defend his war to some lawmakers in Congress and, according to polls, many skeptical voters, including some of his “America First” base.

The Department of Homeland Security communicates significant threats to the American public through alerts under the National Terrorism Advisory ​System. DHS issued such an alert in June 2025, saying brief hostilities between the U.S. and Israel and Iran had caused a “heightened threat environment” in the U.S.

That ​alert, which cited the risk ⁠of cyber attacks or violence from extremists already in the U.S., expired in September 2025.

There are no current NTAS advisories. And, last week, the White House halted a bulletin from DHS, the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center warning state and local law enforcement agencies of a heightened threat to the U.S. because of the Iran war.

Since Trump’s return to the White House last year with vows to slash the federal workforce, the DHS Intelligence and Analysis unit went from about ⁠1,000 employees to ​some 500-600, three former agency officials told Reuters. DHS did not respond to a request for comment.

Travis Nelson, director of Maryland’s homeland ​security office, said DHS has been focused on Trump’s mass deportation efforts in its public communications rather than the possible threat posed by the Iran conflict.

“It’s all about immigration enforcement,” Nelson said. “We haven’t seen anything from Homeland Security about the potential risk to the homeland as a ​result of what’s going on in the Middle East.”

Reporting by Ted Hesson and David Shepardson in Washington, Rich McKay in Atlanta and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Donna Bryson and Bill Berkrot

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

• Suggested Topics:
• Cybersecurity

Share

• X

• Facebook

• Linkedin

• Email

• Link

Purchase Licensing Rights

Ted Hesson

Thomson Reuters

Ted Hesson is an immigration reporter for Reuters, based in Washington, D.C. His work focuses on the policy and politics of immigration, asylum and border security. Prior to joining Reuters in 2019, Ted worked for the news outlet POLITICO, where he also covered immigration. His articles have appeared in POLITICO Magazine, The Atlantic and VICE News, among other publications. Ted holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

• Email

• X

• Linkedin

Rich McKay

Thomson Reuters

Rich McKay has been a reporter for more than 30 years, spanning beats from crime and courts to local government and general assignment desks. McKay previously worked at the Winston-Salem Journal and Greensboro News & Record in North Carolina and then the Orlando Sentinel in Florida. He now reports for Reuters’ National Affairs desk covering news across the United States from Atlanta, Georgia. He reports on disasters such as mass shootings, hurricanes, and wild fires, along with news features out of Georgia. Noteworthy stories include one about Minneapolis children showing courage at a church shooting and a news feature on how Atlanta was taking so much water from the Chattahoochee River it was wiping out the oyster beds hundreds of miles away in Apalachicola, Florida.
He earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Massachusetts and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Michigan. When he’s not working, you can find him puttering in his vegetable garden or reading from his comic book collection. He can be reached at 470-249-6238 or rich.mckay@thomsonreuters.com.

• Email

• X

• Linkedin