Reps. Steve Scalise and John James visited Temple Israel in West Bloomfield to show support for the Jewish community following an attempted mass casualty attack. James cosponsored legislation to help protect members of the Jewish community and other faith groups.
A top member of Congress visited Michigan on Thursday to show support to the Jewish community following an attempted mass casualty attack that happened in March.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) visited Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. The congregation was the target of an attack by a gunman who rammed his truck, loaded with fireworks and gasoline, into the building and began shooting. The attack failed in part because the vehicle became jammed and the attacker was unable to get out of the burning vehicle, and he shot himself.
Around 140 children and staff were reportedly in the building at the time of the attack; had the attacker been able to exit the vehicle, the incident likely would have been far worse.
Scalise is the second highest-ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives, behind just the Speaker of the House. He was joined at Temple Israel by Rep. John James, who represents parts of Oakland and Macomb counties in Congress.
James co-sponsored the Jewish American Security Act (H.R. 9211), which would help protect members of the Jewish community and other faith groups. One of the ways it would do that is by authorizing a significant increase in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program that supports security at synagogues and other at-risk nonprofits.
“I appreciate Leader Scalise coming here to see the site of the attack first-hand, and to talk with community leaders,” said James, R-Shelby Township. “To have a top member of Congress visit signals that we are treating the rise in threats seriously, and that this is an urgent national concern.”
James immediately spoke in support of the congregation following the failed attack.
James also visited Israel in Nov. 2023, following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in which Hamas militants raped and murdered innocent civilians, many of them young people peacefully enjoying a music festival.
“There is a sickness in a certain segment of our population that reacted to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack with sympathy for the attackers, and which has spent the past few years irrationally targeting members of the Jewish community here in Michigan with hateful words and actions,” James said. “I fought extremists in Iraq; we cannot let that kind of violent thinking take root here in Michigan. Everyone should be able to live and worship in peace.”
