FBI identifies Texas synagogue hostage-taker as British nationwide

Authorities on Sunday recognized a 44-year-old British nationwide as the person who took 4 individuals hostage at a Texas synagogue for 10 hours earlier than an FBI SWAT workforce stormed the constructing, ending a tense standoff that President Joe Biden referred to as “an act of terror.”

Malik Faisal Akram was shot and killed after the final of the hostages acquired out at round 9 p.m. Saturday at Congregation Beth Israel close to Fort Worth. In an announcement, the FBI stated there was no indication that anybody else was concerned, nevertheless it didn’t present a attainable motive.Akram might be heard ranting on a Facebook livestream of the providers and demanding the discharge of a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted of making an attempt to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan. The FBI and police spokeswomen declined to reply questions Saturday evening about who shot Akram when the standoff ended. An aerial view of police standing in entrance of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. (Photo: AP)Video from Dallas TV station WFAA confirmed individuals working out a door of the synagogue, after which a person holding a gun opening the identical door simply seconds later earlier than he rotated and closed it. Moments later, a number of rounds of gunfire might be heard, adopted by the sound of an explosion.“Rest assured, we are focused,” Biden stated throughout a go to to a meals pantry in Philadelphia on Sunday morning. “The attorney general is focused and making sure that we deal with these kinds of acts.”FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno stated the hostage-taker was particularly targeted on a problem in a roundabout way related to the Jewish neighborhood, and there was no rapid indication that the person was a part of any broader plan. But DeSarno stated the company’s investigation “will have global reach.” Authorities escort a hostage out of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. (Photo: AP)It wasn’t clear why Akram selected the synagogue.Law enforcement officers who weren’t licensed to debate the continuing investigation and who spoke to The Associated Press on the situation of anonymity earlier stated the hostage-taker demanded the discharge of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of getting ties to al-Qaida who’s in a federal jail in Texas. He additionally stated he needed to have the ability to communicate together with her, in accordance with the officers, considered one of whom confirmed that the hostage-taker was a British nationwide.A rabbi in New York City obtained a name from the rabbi believed to be held hostage within the synagogue to demand Siddiqui’s launch, a legislation enforcement official stated. The New York rabbi then referred to as 911.Police have been first referred to as to the synagogue round 11 a.m. and folks have been evacuated from the encircling neighborhood quickly after that, FBI Dallas spokeswoman Katie Chaumont stated.ALSO READ: Who is Aafia Siddiqui, whose launch was demanded by Texas hostage-taker?Saturday’s providers have been being livestreamed on the synagogue’s Facebook web page for a time. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that an indignant man might be heard ranting and speaking about faith at occasions throughout the livestream, which didn’t present what was occurring contained in the synagogue.Shortly earlier than 2 p.m., the person stated, “You got to do something. I don’t want to see this guy dead.” Moments later, the feed lower out. A spokesperson for Meta Platforms Inc., the company successor to Facebook Inc., later confirmed that Facebook had eliminated the video.Multiple individuals heard the hostage-taker seek advice from Siddiqui as his “sister” on the livestream. But John Floyd, board chair for the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, — the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group — stated Siddiqui’s brother, Mohammad Siddiqui, was not concerned. A legislation enforcement official stands patrol on a most important highway resulting in Congregation Beth Israel synagogue the place a person had held hostages for hours. (Photo: AP)“This assailant has nothing to do with Dr. Aafia, her family, or the global campaign to get justice for Dr. Aafia. We want the assailant to know that his actions are wicked and directly undermine those of us who are seeking justice for Dr. Aafia,” stated Floyd, who is also authorized counsel for Mohammad Siddiqui. “We have confirmed that the family member being wrongly accused of this heinous act is not near the DFW Metro area.”Texas resident Victoria Francis instructed the AP that she watched about an hour of the livestream earlier than it lower out. She stated she heard the person rant towards America and declare he had a bomb.“He was just all over the map. He was pretty irritated and the more irritated he got, he’d make more threats, like ‘I’m the guy with the bomb. If you make a mistake, this is all on you.’ And he’d laugh at that,” she stated. “He was clearly in extreme distress.”Francis, who grew up close to Colleyville, tuned in after she learn concerning the hostage scenario. She stated it appeared like the person was speaking to the police division on the telephone, with the rabbi and one other particular person making an attempt to assist with the negotiations.ALSO READ: All hostages in Texas synagogue assault protected; attacker lifelessColleyville, a neighborhood of about 26,000 individuals, is about 15 miles (23 kilometers) northeast of Fort Worth. The synagogue is nestled amongst massive homes in a leafy residential neighborhood that features a number of church buildings, a center and elementary college and a horse farm.Congregation Beth Israel is led by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who has been there since 2006 because the synagogue’s first full-time rabbi. He has labored to carry a way of spirituality, compassion and studying to the neighborhood, in accordance with his biography on the temple’s web site, and he loves welcoming everybody, together with LGBT individuals, into the congregation.In a Sunday morning put up on what seems to be Cytron-Walker’s Facebook web page, the rabbi thanked legislation enforcement and first-responders, and safety coaching “that helped save us.”“I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for the CBI Community, the Jewish Community, the Human Community. I am grateful we made it out. I am grateful to be alive,” he wrote.Anna Salton Eisen, a founder and former president of the synagogue, stated the congregation has about 140 members and that Cytron-Walker has labored laborious to construct interfaith relationships in the neighborhood, together with doing pulpit swaps and collaborating in a neighborhood peace stroll. She described Saturday’s occasions as “surreal.”“This is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. You know, it’s a small town and it’s a small congregation,” Eisen stated because the hostage scenario was ongoing. “No matter how it turns out, it’s hard to fathom how we will all be changed by this, because surely we will be.”President Joe Biden issued an announcement thanking legislation enforcement after the hostage scenario ended.“There is more we will learn in the days ahead about the motivations of the hostage taker. But let me be clear to anyone who intends to spread hate—we will stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of extremism in this country,” Biden stated.Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated on Twitter that he had been monitoring the scenario carefully. “This event is a stark reminder that antisemitism is still alive and we must continue to fight it worldwide,” he wrote. He stated he was “relieved and thankful” that the hostages have been rescued.The standoff prompted elevated safety in different places, together with New York City, the place police stated that they elevated their presence “at key Jewish institutions” out of an abundance of warning.Aafia Siddiqui earned superior levels from Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earlier than she was sentenced in 2010 to 86 years in jail on fees that she assaulted and shot at U.S. Army officers after being detained in Afghanistan two years earlier. The punishment sparked outrage in Pakistan amongst political leaders and her supporters, who considered her as victimized by the American felony justice system.In the years since, Pakistani officers have expressed curiosity publicly in any type of deal or swap that might end in her launch from U.S. custody, and her case has continued to attract consideration from supporters. In 2018, as an illustration, an Ohio man who prosecutors say deliberate to fly to Texas and assault the jail the place Siddiqui is being held in an try and free her was sentenced to 22 years in jail.ALSO READ: Armed man takes hostages at Texas synagogue demanding launch of Pakistani prisoner