Michigan stabbing seen as terrorist act

FLINT, Mich. — A Canadian man shouted in Arabic and referred to people being killed overseas before he stabbed a police officer in the neck Wednesday at a Michigan airport, federal officials said.

Amor Ftouhi, 49, of Montreal was arrested immediately after the attack. A criminal complaint charging him with committing violence at an airport says Ftouhi asked an officer who subdued him why the officer didn’t kill him.

The attack at Bishop International Airport in Flint, Mich., is being investigated as an act of terrorism, but authorities had no indication that Ftouhi was involved in a “wider plot,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge David Gelios.

“At this time we view him as a lone-wolf attacker,” Gelios said. “We have no information to suggest any training.”

The criminal complaint said Ftouhi stabbed airport police Lt. Jeff Neville with a large knife after yelling “Allahu akbar,” the Arabic phrase for “God is great.” According to the FBI, Ftouhi said something similar to “you have killed people in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and we are all going to die.”

More charges against Ftouhi could be filed as prosecutors take the case to a grand jury seeking an indictment, Gelios said. The Flint Journal, citing court officials, said Ftouhi is a dual citizen of Canada and Tunisia.