RALEIGH, N.C. — Federal and local authorities have taken two young suspects into custody for allegedly planning a violent assault on a Texas house of worship, with investigators saying the scheme involved ramming a vehicle into worshippers to “kill as many Jews as possible.”
The detentions occurred approximately one month following an incident where a gunman drove his truck into a prominent synagogue in the Detroit metropolitan area, marking another attack targeting Jewish communities. Religious institutions worldwide have heightened their security measures and protective protocols since the United States and Israel entered into conflict with Iran on February 28.
Davidson County jail records indicate that Angelina Han Hicks, age 18 from Lexington, North Carolina, remained in custody Thursday with bail set at $10 million. Wednesday’s arrest resulted in formal accusations that she collaborated with two “male subjects” in planning murder and assault charges against congregants at Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, scheduled for April 21, 2028, as detailed in arrest warrants outlining two felony charges.
The FBI’s Charlotte office announced Thursday through social media that a minor has been charged in connection with the conspiracy in Harris County, Texas, encompassing Houston. Officials have not yet confirmed whether this detained juvenile matches either of the two male accomplices named in Hicks’ arrest documents, which provided only first names while listing surnames as “unknown.”
Houston Police Department issued a Thursday statement revealing a 16-year-old’s arrest and charging with conspiracy to commit capital murder connected to “a threat directed towards certain Jewish institutions in our area” that authorities discovered Wednesday. The department avoided specifically naming Congregation Beth Israel. Both the FBI and Houston school district police contributed to the apprehension.
“At this time, there is no other known credible threat,” the release said.
District Court Judge Carlton Terry explained Wednesday why Hicks’ confinement was essential, writing partially that the suspected “conspiracy is to kill as many Jews as possible by driving through a congregation at a synagogue.”
“Allowing a co-conspirator a chance to communicate with either of those individuals or those who could relay a message puts lives at risk,” Terry added.
The FBI reported that its Charlotte Joint Terrorism Task Force initiated the probe Tuesday night following information provided to a North Carolina law enforcement organization.
Although Hicks’ arrest documents reference a possible attack scheduled two years ahead, Davidson County senior assistant district attorney Alan Martin explained during an interview that authorities had “some concern that there could be an imminent event” targeting the Houston synagogue. Court filings in North Carolina did not immediately reveal a potential reason for the planned violence. The probe remains active.
Phone contact attempts with Hicks’ court-appointed counsel proved unsuccessful Thursday. Attorney Chad Freeman informed the Houston Chronicle that proceedings were in preliminary phases and Hicks’ age might influence her legal defense.
“I anticipate getting numerous experts involved in the case to look at both investigatory and possible forensic matters,” Freeman told the newspaper. Her upcoming court appearance is scheduled for May 13.
Congregation Beth Israel holds the distinction of being Texas’ oldest Jewish worship facility, established during the 1850s. The institution also runs an elementary school serving students through fifth grade. Thursday’s social media announcement from the Charlotte FBI referenced a suspected planned assault on a Jewish educational facility.
The possible dangers communicated to synagogue leadership by Houston law enforcement led Beth Israel to shut down Wednesday “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a social media statement from the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston. The facility resumed operations Thursday, the federation reported.
“The safety and security of the Houston Jewish community is of utmost importance to all of us,” the federation wrote.
Lexington sits approximately 90 miles west of Raleigh.
Federal investigators stated that Ayman Ghazali intended to cause maximum harm to Jewish individuals when he crashed his pickup truck on March 12 into Temple Israel located in West Bloomfield, Michigan.
The 41-year-old Ghazali carried weapons when his vehicle broke through entrance doors and into a corridor of an early childhood education section, hitting a security officer. He subsequently engaged in gunfire with another guard before taking his own life. None of the other 150 children and employees sustained injuries.
Ghazali, born in Lebanon but holding U.S. citizenship, had discovered one week prior to his attack that four relatives died in an Israeli air strike in his homeland.
