2016 Ohio restaurant machete attack

Attack

Barry entered the restaurant at about 5:20 p.m. and spoke to an employee. The conversation was not publicly detailed, but NBC News reported that Barry asked where the owner was from. The employee told him the owner, Hany Baransi, is from Israel. Barry left and returned half an hour later with a machete.

He immediately attacked Debbie and Gerald Russell, both 43, who were seated in a booth near the front. He then moved to another table and attacked Bill Foley, a musician performing at the restaurant. Neil McMeekin, at the second table, struck Barry with a chair to pull him off Foley. Shafi Ali, an employee from Dubai, drove Barry off with a metal baseball bat.

Foley, the Russells, and McMeekin were injured. About twenty people were inside at the time. Barry fled in a white Toyota Corolla and collided with a Mercedes. During a police pursuit, a license plate check triggered an alert to contact the local terrorism task force.

Officers attempted a PIT maneuver; the first failed, but the second succeeded, causing the car to crash into a curb. Barry emerged and lunged at officers with the machete and a filet knife, allegedly yelling "Allahu Akbar!"—though Columbus police later said they had not heard that phrase connected to the case until that point. He was tasered, then shot repeatedly when the taser did not stop him, and died of a bullet wound to the neck.

FBI investigation

Barry was known to the FBI for making radical comments four years before the attack, though the FBI did not release details of that investigation. CBS News reported that law enforcement saw the incident as having hallmarks of a lone-wolf terrorist attack. An investigation into whether Barry was a self-radicalized Islamist terrorist began a week after the attack, and as of May 10, 2016, authorities had not ruled out that possibility.

Nazareth Restaurant

The restaurant, located on North Hamilton Road in a strip mall, was owned and managed by Hany Baransi, an Israeli Christian Arab who immigrated from Haifa, Israel. It had been operating for 27 years and served Middle Eastern dishes such as shawarma, gyros, lamb kebabs, and stuffed grape leaves. An Israeli flag was displayed inside. The Washington Post described Baransi as a popular local figure and the restaurant as a multicultural mingling place; a painting of a Christian, a Jew, and a Muslim in conversation hung on the wall.

Aftermath

Columbus area musicians organized a benefit concert for the victims. The restaurant closed immediately after the attack, partially reopened four days later, and was expected to be fully operational by February 19. It fully reopened that day but closed again hours later, with a social media post stating staff needed more time to recuperate. Baransi said he believed his employees were in danger because of his Israeli background and the hatred he and his staff faced.

He added that he loved the U.S. but felt it was no longer safe, that officials had not offered support, and that he was disappointed the attack was not called terrorism. He announced plans to leave the U.S. and close the restaurant permanently; his wife said she was trying to persuade him otherwise. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said he hoped to persuade Baransi to stay. The restaurant remained open, though Baransi continued to assert that authorities did not take the terrorist threat seriously.

In November 2016, after a car-ramming and stabbing at Ohio State University, Columbus Police Deputy Chief Michael Woods compared that incident to Barry's attack as a potential act of terrorism. In February 2017, the White House listed the machete attack as a terrorist attack, and Baransi said he felt relieved.