Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Friday that heated political “rhetoric” was to blame for the terror attack on the Temple Israel synagogue, calling Thursday’s incident a clear act of antisemitism. Whitmer’s comments come after a man rammed his truck into Temple Israel, the largest Reform Judaism congregation in the United States, and opened fire with a rifle. The suspect, identified as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a Lebanese national who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016, was killed by synagogue security.  “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 as we do it, and we will call it out. We must lower the rhetoric in the state and in this country, especially at this moment where we have seen such a rise in antisemitism and more attacks on the Jewish community.” Whitmer said that the attacker was “fomented by rhetoric that they see online and that they see on television and they hear on the radio. It radicalizes people, and it endangers our fellow Michiganders. We cannot let this continue.” She did not mention Ghazali by name and referred specific questions about the investigation to the FBI.  “I am calling on anyone with a platform to be very responsible with their rhetoric, not to identify or target the Jewish community,” Whitmer said. “That is antisemitism writ large, and I don’t think that any of us should permit or allow that to stand. And that’s why I’m asking people to turn down the rhetoric.” Ghazali was born in Lebanon in 1985 and entered the United States in 2011 on an immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the Department of Homeland Security said. He applied for naturalization in October 2015 and became an American citizen in February 2016.  Whitmer praised the synagogue’s security team, noting that the attack occurred while children were present.   “I want to thank Temple Israel’s security personnel,” Whitmer said. “They were selfless in their courage, and they saved lives. These heroes threw themselves in harm’s way, engaging the suspect, and let’s be very clear, yes, this is a place of worship, but at the time that this attack occurred, it was a school, 104 children, aged 5 and younger.” The FBI is continuing to investigate the attack.