FBI chief Kash Patel warns online radicalization fueling threats to synagogues, public officials

The ability to turn online activity and organization into real-world violence, including attacks against synagogues and elected officials, is the most serious domestic threat currently facing the United States, FBI Director Kash Patel told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

The hearing was the Judiciary Committee's annual FBI oversight hearing, with Patel appearing as the bureau's sole witness. Asked by Republican Sen. Darlin Graham of South Carolina about the leading domestic threat, Patel said the primary mechanism was the "cyber landscape," adding that "the single greatest threat" was the ability to carry out violence through online spaces, whether against children, houses of worship or elected officials.

Patel stressed that he was not necessarily referring to cyberattacks in the sense of hacking computer systems, but rather to the use of the internet, social media and encrypted applications for radicalization, planning and coordinating acts of violence.

One example he cited was a plot foiled in June against the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House. The US Justice Department said at the time that five people had been arrested and charged with planning an attack against elected officials and participants at the event.

According to the indictments, those involved moved their communications to encrypted chats and planned to use explosive-laden drones to create chaos, followed by snipers who would fire on people fleeing the scene. In some of their communications, the suspects also discussed harming members of Congress whom they claimed were connected to the pro-Israel lobby.

Patel's emphasis on houses of worship is particularly relevant to the Jewish community in the United States following several significant incidents this year in which the internet played a role in either the threat itself or the radicalization process.

On March 12, 41-year-old Ayman Mohammed Ghazali of Dearborn Heights attacked Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Following an investigation, the FBI determined that the incident was "an act of terrorism inspired by Hezbollah" aimed at the Jewish community and the large Michigan synagogue.

FBI: Ghazali searched online for synagogues, Jewish institutions prior to attack

According to the FBI's findings, Ghazali began consuming pro-Hezbollah and Iranian content online as early as January. In the days before the attack, he searched online for synagogues and Jewish institutions in the Detroit area, and later searched phrases including "largest gathering of Israelis in Michigan," "Orthodox synagogues," and "Israelis near me." He also looked up planned events at Temple Israel.

On the day of the attack, Ghazali arrived at the synagogue in a Ford F-150 pickup truck containing commercial fireworks and containers filled with flammable material. He rammed the entrance door, opened fire from inside the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with security personnel.

Children and staff were evacuated from the building, and no worshipers or employees were killed. The attacker died during the incident.

During the investigation, the FBI found that minutes before the attack, Ghazali sent videos to his sister in which he described the synagogue as "the largest gathering place for Israelis in the state of Michigan," said he had prepared his vehicle for the attack, and that he intended to "kill as many of them as possible."

The bureau said it found no evidence that he had accomplices and concluded that the attacker had been inspired by Hezbollah ideology.

Other incidents this year have also highlighted the connection between antisemitic threats and online activity. In March, a Chicago resident was indicted after, according to the Justice Department, posting on X/Twitter that he intended to "shoot inside a synagogue." The information was forwarded to the FBI's National Threat Operations Center.

In April, a US soldier stationed at Fort Polk was charged after authorities said he threatened in Discord conversations to enter a synagogue with an AK rifle and kill Jews. According to the Justice Department, the investigation was opened after the FBI received an online tip.

Lone extremists, small groups most difficult to identify, FBI warns

The FBI has previously warned that extremists acting alone or in small groups who become radicalized online and target "soft targets" such as houses of worship are among the most difficult threats to identify in advance.

In June 2025, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a joint warning about heightened threats to Jewish and Israeli communities in the United States, cautioning that foreign terrorist organizations could exploit events in the Middle East to encourage violence inside the US.

Patel stressed during the hearing that confronting the threat requires closer cooperation between the FBI and state and local police departments. Following the Michigan attack, the FBI also called on houses of worship and schools to work with law enforcement authorities and participate in training for responding to shooting incidents.