Jewish state officials in Michigan called Monday for legislative changes to prevent crimes motivated by antisemitism, following an attack at a metro-Detroit synagogue last week.
An armed man drove a truck laden with commercial-grade fireworks into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, investigators said, in what the FBI described as a targeted attack on the Jewish community. Federal officials said he died by suicide at the scene.
The only other person hurt in the attack was a security guard who authorities said is expected to recover — but lawmakers and community members said it should be a wake-up call.
At a press conference in Detroit Monday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the prevalence of anti-Jewish sentiment made attacks like the one on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield all the more likely.
“Antisemitism is a problem that has become far too comfortable. It’s been welcomed into conversations, at the dinner table, classrooms and even at the White House. It should not have been inevitable. It doesn’t have to continue. But it is on each and every one of us to stop it.”
Michigan State Police crime numbers show Jews have faced the highest rates of religious-based hate crimes since 2020 -- being the target of more than 35% of those crimes in preliminary data from 2025, despite making up less than 2% of the state's population.
Muslims faced the second most bias-motivated crimes in the 2025 data, making up near 24% of victims.
State Representative Samantha Steckloff (D-Farmington Hills) helped set aside $4 million in the current state budget for safety measures at Jewish institutions around metro Detroit. Steckloff, a worshipper at Temple Israel, credited that money with helping save lives by paying for private security and training.
“We’ve seen how those dollars worked. We’ve seen how the training worked. So we want to make sure that every congregation in the state, make sure that every school, Jewish schools and our community centers have the opportunity for those same dollars and those same trainings,” Steckloff said.
She and other lawmakers at Monday’s press conference said they plan on asking for more money to expand those grants.
Aside from funding, the lawmakers are looking for policies to coordinate resources against extremist violence, and strengthen the state’s laws against terroristic threatening after the Michigan Supreme Court found a previous version unconstitutional.
State Senator Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) said while he supports those moves in the Legislature, policy changes can only go so far.
“If antisemitism was such a simple and easy thing to snuff out, we would have snuffed it out already. What it really depends on as well are non-legislative reactions. The goodwill of people to speak out and say that they too can’t tolerate this,” Moss said.
Still, others are frustrated with what they see as a lack of action in other areas.
During Friday’s press conference, state Representative Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield) said he had been trying to get the governor’s attention on extremism.
“I forwarded a white paper to the governor’s office last year and didn’t receive a response,” Arbit said. “That was after the killing of Minnesota (House) Speaker Melissa Hortman. I sent it again after Charlie Kirk was shot and I still didn’t get a response. I sent it on Thursday. Again, I still didn’t a response. So I’m very much looking forward to working with the next governor.”
Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who condemned the synagogue attack as "antisemitism at its absolute worst," and who was herself the target of a politically motivated kidnapping plot, has also taken action on the political violence Arbit called out, her team said.
“Governor Whitmer has been loud and clear that political violence is unacceptable," said Whitmer spokesperson Stacey LaRouche.
"The governor signed legislation to expand security measures for legislators, expand the definition of a hate crime, and institute common sense gun violence prevention measures, which help address the rise in threats toward public servants and keep everyone safe," LaRouche said in a statement. "The governor will continue to stand up to political violence and hate and work to make Michigan a safer place for all."
