Flint Airport Terrorism Suspect Amor Ftouhi: 5 Fast Facts

FLINT, MI — A Canadian man from Tunisia who shouted in Arabic before and while stabbing an airport police officer in Flint Wednesday morning had a hatred for America but appears to have acted as a lone wolf in the attack that is being investigated as an act of terrorism, the FBI said. There’s no evidence the attack was part of a “wider plot,” FBI Special Agent in Charge David Gelios said.

As he was stabbing the Bishop International Airport police officer with a large knife, Amor Ftouhi, 49, of Montreal, shouted “Allahu akbar,” the Arabic phrase for “God is great,” and referenced deaths in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan at American hands, saying “we are all going to die,” according to the criminal complaint charging Ftouhi with committing violence at an airport.

After another police officer subdued him Ftouhi asked why he didn’t kill him, according to the complaint. The injured officer, airport police Lt. Jeff Neville, is expected to recover. His condition was upgraded from critical to serious Wednesday night. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Flint Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The stabbing at Bishop International Airport in Flint, Michigan, is being investigated as an act of terrorism, but authorities have no indication at this time that the suspect was involved in a “wider plot,” FBI Special Agent in Charge David Gelios said at a news conference, the Associated Press reported. Investigators haven’t found any evidence that Ftouhi was formally trained, Gelios said.

Ftouhi never went through airport screening and spent some time in the public area of the airport before using a restroom, where he left two bags before stabbing Neville in the neck with a 12-inch knife with an 8-inch serrated blade, Gelios said.

Ftouhi made an initial appearance in federal court in Flint late Wednesday, and is being held in the Genesee County Jail until a detention hearing in Flint U.S. District Court at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 28.

Here are five things to know about the suspect:

• Ftouhi, a dual citizen of Canada and Tunisia, has lived in Montreal’s St. Michael neighborhood for about 10 years with his wife and three children, court officials told The Flint Journal. Luciano Piazza, the landlord of the building where Ftouhi and his family live, told the Associated Press that he wasn’t a troublemaker. “I’m really surprised,” she said of the charge against him. “I would see him once a month, when he paid his rent.”
• It’s unclear why Ftouhi was in Flint. In a news conference, Gelios said he legally entered the United States in Lake Champlain, New York, on June 16, and then made his way to Flint.
• His motive appears to be a “hatred for the United States and a variety of other things,” Gelios said, according to a report in The Detroit News.
• Ftouhi’s mother and several of his siblings live in Tunisia and a sister lives in Switzerland, court officials said
• An “on and off” truck driver who most recently worked two weeks ago, he qualifies for a court appointed attorney, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis said.

Here's the federal complaint against Ftouhi:

Police dogs search cars in a parking lot at Bishop International Airport, Wednesday morning, June 21, in Flint. Officials evacuated the airport Wednesday, where a witness said he saw an officer bleeding from his neck and a knife nearby on the ground. Authorities say the injured officer's condition is improving. (Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)