(JTA) — Hezbollah poses no specific threat to Jewish communities in metropolitan Detroit, the FBI’s head of counterterrorism in Michigan reportedly said at a suburban Detroit JCC.
However, Assistant Special Agent Todd Mayberry told a security conference Tuesday at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield, Mich., the Jewish communities face potential and general threats, the Detroit Free Press reported. Mayberry cited Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terror group that is a proxy of Iran, and the “self-radicalization” of terrorist sympathizers who visit jihadist websites.
"If I gave you the number of Michigan IP addresses that are on some of these sites, it’s staggering," Mayberry was quoted as saying in the Free Press.
Mayberry said the FBI would investigate terrorism supporters in their mosques or schools.
Rising tensions between Israel and Iran have raised fears that Hezbollah might attack Israel.
"The Iranian issue … that is a huge deal … their use of the proxy group Hezbollah — these are things we’re very concerned about," Mayberry said, according to the Free Press.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.