Reuters reports that the FBI identified a hostage taker murdered at a Texas synagogue as a British citizen, after US President Joe Biden had declared that the gunman committed “an act of terror” using weapons he purchased on the street. The FBI identified the man as Malik Faisal Akram, 44, who was killed after his four hostages were safely released from a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday night. Gulbar, the suspect’s brother, posted on Facebook that the suspect, from the industrial town of Blackburn in the north of England, suffered from mental illness and that the family had spent the night at the Blackburn police station “liaising with Faisal, the negotiators, FBI, etc.”
“There was nothing we could have said or done to encourage him to surrender,” Gulbar alleged on the Facebook page of the Blackburn Muslim Community. He said that the FBI will be in the UK “later today,” so the family couldn’t say anything more. “As a family, we do not condone any of his activities and would want to express our heartfelt condolences to all those involved in the unfortunate event,” the brother added. According to Biden, the hostage-taking in Colleyville, Texas, was “an act of terror.” He was in Philadelphia with first wife Jill Biden, packing carrots and apples at a food bank as part of a visit to commemorate the victims of the atrocity.
“Allegedly – and I don’t know all the details, nor does the attorney general,” Biden continued, “the presumption was that he got the guns on the street.” “When he landed, he bought them, and there were no explosives, as far as we know.” He appears to have spent his first night of life at a homeless shelter. “I don’t know all of the facts yet,” the president remarked, “so I’m hesitant to get into any additional detail.” An FBI Hostage Rescue Team invaded Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, about 16 miles (26 kilometers) northeast of Fort Worth, on Saturday night, following a 10-hour standoff with police by the shooter, who disrupted a Sabbath service and seized the rabbi and three other people. One captive was killed.
The Colleyville Police Department deployed SWAT units to the synagogue after receiving emergency calls about 10:41 a.m. during the Sabbath service. The FBI quickly contacted the individual, who stated that he wanted to talk with a woman being imprisoned in a federal jail. The man could be heard making a one-sided phone call during a Facebook live video of the event. The guy could be heard shouting and ranting about religion and his sister, and constantly stressing that he did not want anyone to be wounded, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The hostage-taker claimed to be Aafia Siddiqui, the brother of Pakistani scientist Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year jail sentence in the United States for shooting at troops and FBI agents in 2010.
Despite the fact that the hostage crisis in Texas looked to be an isolated event, synagogues in New York and around the country increased security in reaction, and politicians decried anti-Semitic atrocities. “What happened yesterday at Congregation Beth Israel serves as a reminder that we must stand up and reject bigotry and violence wherever it occurs,” said US Vice President Kamala Harris in a statement. “Everyone has the right to pray, work, study, and spend time with loved ones as individuals, not as members of a group.” In a Facebook post, Akram’s brother stated that the family’s goal is to have Akram’s remains transferred to the UK “for his Funeral prayers, despite the fact that he died just three months ago.”
