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British gunman had cup of tea with Texas rabbi before taking him hostage

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Gunman Malik Faisal Akram, 44, tapped on the window at Beth Israel Congregation in Coleyville and was welcomed in by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. They had tea together, then the rabbi went to lead the morning prayer

The Texas rabbi who escaped from British gunman Malik Faisal Akram after a 12-hour stand-off on Saturday mentioned he welcomed him into his synagogue as a result of he ‘seemed like he wanted shelter’ and gave him a cup of tea.  

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker additionally defined that he threw a chair at Akram at Beth Israel Congregation in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday in order that he and two different hostages had been in a position to escape. 

Earlier within the day, Cytron-Walker mentioned he welcomed Akram into the synagogue after he tapped on the window. He then sat down for tea with Cytron-Walker earlier than providers commenced. 

It was when the rabbi was main the congregation in prayer that the 44-year-old British gunman cocked his weapon and took the rabbi and three others hostages.

He was shot lifeless by SWAT groups after the hostages escaped. 

In an interview with CBS Mornings on Monday, Rabbi Cytron-Walker advised how he’d welcomed him in with out hesitation. 

‘After I took him in, I stayed with him. Making tea was a chance for me to speak with him. In that second, I didn’t hear something suspicious.

‘A few of his story didn’t fairly add up so I used to be slightly bit curious however that’s not essentially an unusual factor. It was throughout prayer, whereas we had been praying, my again was turned. We face in the direction of Jerusalem after we pray. 

‘I heard a click on. It may have been something… it turned out it was his gun,’ he mentioned. 

Gunman Malik Faisal Akram, 44, tapped on the window at Beth Israel Congregation in Coleyville and was welcomed in by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. They had tea together, then the rabbi went to lead the morning prayer

Gunman Malik Faisal Akram, 44, tapped on the window at Beth Israel Congregation in Coleyville and was welcomed in by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. They had tea together, then the rabbi went to lead the morning prayer

Gunman Malik Faisal Akram, 44, tapped on the window at Beth Israel Congregation in Coleyville and was welcomed in by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. They had tea together, then the rabbi went to lead the morning prayer

Gunman Malik Faisal Akram, 44, tapped on the window at Beth Israel Congregation in Coleyville and was welcomed in by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. They had tea together, then the rabbi went to lead the morning prayer

Gunman Malik Faisal Akram, 44, tapped on the window at Beth Israel Congregation in Coleyville and was welcomed in  by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. They’d tea collectively, then the rabbi went to steer the morning prayer

The standoff ended at midnight on Saturday nearly 12 hours later. The gunman was shot dead

The standoff ended at midnight on Saturday nearly 12 hours later. The gunman was shot dead

The standoff ended at midnight on Saturday almost 12 hours later. The gunman was shot lifeless 

The rabbi additionally revealed that in the direction of the top of the stand-off, he feared he could be killed as a result of the gunman wasn’t ‘getting what he wished’. 

‘It didn’t look good. It didn’t sound good. We had been terrified.’ 

The hostages solely escaped when he threw a chair within the gunman’s face and bolted for the exit. 

SWAT groups killed the gunman afterwards, as soon as the entire hostages had been out safely. 

‘After I noticed a chance the place he wasn’t in a very good place, I made certain the 2 gents who had been nonetheless with him, that they had been able to go. The exit wasn’t too far-off. 

‘I advised them to go, I threw a chair on the gunman and I headed to the door and all three of us had been in a position to get out with out even a shot being fired,’ he mentioned. 

Malik Faisal Akram, who was known as Faisal Akram, had ranted that he wished he had died in the 9/11 terror attacks. He was a regular visitor to Pakistan and reportedly a member of the Tablighi Jamaat group, set up to “purify” Islam

Malik Faisal Akram, who was known as Faisal Akram, had ranted that he wished he had died in the 9/11 terror attacks. He was a regular visitor to Pakistan and reportedly a member of the Tablighi Jamaat group, set up to “purify” Islam

Malik Faisal Akram, who was referred to as Faisal Akram, had ranted that he wished he had died within the 9/11 terror assaults. He was a daily customer to Pakistan and reportedly a member of the Tablighi Jamaat group, set as much as ‘purify’ Islam

SWAT team members deploy near the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday

SWAT team members deploy near the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday

SWAT staff members deploy close to the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday

Officers are seen surrounding the building in Texas on Saturday

Officers are seen surrounding the building in Texas on Saturday

Officers are seen surrounding the constructing in Texas on Saturday

Who’s Aafia Siddiqui, the ‘Girl Al Qaeda’ terrorist who deliberate chemical assaults on Empire State Constructing and Brooklyn Bridge

Siddiqui, who was a biology main at MIT, mentioned in 1993 that she wished to do ‘one thing to assist our Muslim brothers and sisters’ even when it meant breaking the regulation.

She jumped to her toes and ‘raised her skinny little wrists within the air’ in a show of defiance that shocked her associates.

An in-depth account of her journey to infamy additionally reveals that she took a Nationwide Rifle Affiliation taking pictures class and persuaded different Muslims to learn to fireplace a gun.

Siddiqui lied to her husband and after they wed over the telephone he was shocked to find she was simply marrying him for his household’s connections to higher allow her to wage jihad.

Two handout photos of terror suspect Aafia Siddiqui released by the FBI in May of 2004

Two handout photos of terror suspect Aafia Siddiqui released by the FBI in May of 2004

Two handout pictures of terror suspect Aafia Siddiqui launched by the FBI in Might of 2004

She was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 by native forces who discovered her with two kilos of poison sodium cyanide and plans for chemical assaults on New York’s Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Constructing

Siddiqui, a mother-of-three, finally acquired her twisted want and have become probably the most wished girl on the planet by the FBI. 

She was handed to the People and convicted of tried homicide in a U.S. courtroom in 2010.

However her hatred for the U.S. was so sturdy that in her interrogation she grabbed a rifle from one in every of her guards and shot at them shouting: ‘Dying to People’.

A 2014 Boston Globe profile of Siddiqui’s time in Boston sought to reply what occurred throughout her 11 years as a scholar within the U.S.

One thing occurred to radicalize an clever and religious girl who not solely graduated from MIT but additionally acquired a doctorate in neuroscience from Brandeis College. 

At MIT she made few associates and was remembered as clever, pushed and a daily on the Prospect Avenue mosque, which might later be attended by alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

She wore lengthy sleeves and the hijab and was seen as ‘very candy’ for a former roommate at her all-female dorm.

The main focus of her life was the Muslim Scholar Affiliation however issues seem to have modified with the beginning of the Bosnian Struggle, which appears to have been the start of her radicalization.

Siddiqui grew to become concerned with the Al-Kifah Refugee Centre, a Brooklyn-based group which is believed to have been Al Qaeda’s focus of operations within the US.

Terrorism professional Evan Kohlmann mentioned: ‘Aafia was from a outstanding household with connections and a sympathy for jihad. She was simply what they wanted.’

In 1993 as she and a few associates debated methods to elevate cash for Muslims being killed through the Bosnian Struggle, one in every of them joked that they didn’t wish to go on the FBI’s Most Needed Listing.

Waqas Jilani, then a graduate scholar at Clark College, mentioned: ‘She raised her skinny little wrists within the air and mentioned: ‘I’d be proud to be on the Most Needed checklist as a result of it will imply I’m doing one thing to assist our Muslim brothers and sisters’

‘She mentioned we should always all be proud to be on that checklist’. 

Jilani added that Siddiqui mentioned in her speeches that Muslims ought to ‘get coaching and go abroad and struggle’.

He mentioned: ‘We had been all laughing like, ‘Uh-oh, Aafia’s acquired a gun!’

‘A part of it was as a result of she was such a nasty shot, but additionally as a result of she was at all times mouthing off in regards to the U.S. and the FBI being so dangerous and all.’

Siddiqui married Mohammed Amjad Khan, the son of a rich Pakistani household, in a ceremony carried out over the telephone earlier than he flew to Boston.

However upon arrival he found that removed from being the quiet non secular girl he had been promised, her life was very totally different.

He mentioned: ‘I found that the well-being of our nascent household unit was not her prime aim in life. As a substitute, it was to achieve prominence in Muslim circles.’

Khan described to the Boston Globe how she recurrently watched movies of Osama bin Laden, spent weekends at terror coaching camps in New Hampshire with activists from Al-Kifah and begged him to give up his medical job so he may be a part of her.

Ultimately he stopped bringing work colleagues house as a result of she would ‘solely to speak about them changing to Islam’.

Khan mentioned: ‘Invariably this could result in unpleasantness, so I made a decision to maintain my work separate….

‘…By now, all her focus had shifted to jihad in opposition to America, as a substitute of preaching to People in order that all of them turn out to be Muslims and America turns into a Muslim land’.

The breaking level was the September 11 2001 assaults after which Siddiqui, who was by now dressing in all black, insisted they return to Pakistan and acquired a divorce.

American officers suspect she remarried Ammar Al-Baluchi, the nephew of 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, although her household deny this.

Siddiqui and her kids disappeared in Karachi, Pakistan in 2003 shortly after Mohammed was arrested.

The next 12 months she was named by FBI director Robert Mueller as one of many seven most wished Al Qaeda operatives, and the one girl. 

He added that the group would ‘after all’ be going again to the synagogue regardless of the ‘terrifying, overwhelming’ expertise. 

‘It’s one thing that we’re positively going to do. We’ve expertise nice issue and challenges and on the similar time we’ve skilled nice resilience.

‘It received’t be a simple factor however it’s a very necessary factor.’

Questions stay over how Akram – who had stayed in a homeless shelter within the weeks earlier than he went to the synagogue – was in a position to enter the US along with his lengthy felony report. 

His household say he was mentally ailing and was mourning the current loss of life of his brother, who died from COVID-19. 

It stays unclear whether or not or not Akram belongs to any terrorist organizations however through the stand-off, he demanded the discharge of  ‘Girl Al Qaeda’ Aafia Siddiqui. 

She is being held in jail in Fort Value for making an attempt to homicide People in 2008 after being arrested in Afghanistan on suspicion of plotting assaults in opposition to the US. 

Whereas she was being questioned, she opened fireplace on troopers and FBI brokers. They returned fireplace, wounding her, and he or she was delivered to the US. 

How did he get in? Fury is growing over how the gunman - whose family say was known to police - was able to enter the US

How did he get in? Fury is growing over how the gunman - whose family say was known to police - was able to enter the US

How did he get in? Fury is rising over how the gunman – whose household say was identified to police – was in a position to enter the US 

She had been dwelling within the US through the 9/11 assaults however then fled to Pakistan, fearing that her kids had been going to be taken from her and be transformed to Christianity. 

It stays unconfirmed if she has ever met Akram or spoken with him. 

Earlier, Rabbi  Cytron-Walker credited FBI coaching with with the ability to escape from the gunman. 

‘Over time, my congregation and I’ve participated in a number of safety programs from the Colleyville Police Division, the FBI, the Anti-Defamation League, and Safe Group Community,’ he mentioned.

‘We’re alive right this moment due to that training. I encourage all Jewish congregations, non secular teams, colleges, and others to take part in active-shooter and safety programs. 

‘Within the final hour of our hostage disaster, the gunman grew to become more and more belligerent and threatening. 

‘With out the instruction we obtained, we might not have been ready to behave and flee when the state of affairs offered itself.’   

Akram’s felony report just isn’t but identified however his brother advised Sky Information within the UK that he was identified to police. 

‘He’s identified to police. Obtained a felony report. How was he allowed to get a visa and purchase a gun?’ he mentioned.  

He landed at New York’s JFK Airport on January 2 earlier than spending between January 6 and January 13 at a Christian charity’s homeless hostel in Dallas, managing to purchase a gun ‘on the road’ close by. 

British Conservative MP Bob Seely advised MailOnline there appeared to have been a ‘dreadful’ error on the UK and US borders brought on by an ‘intelligence failure’ and it wanted to be checked out.

‘That is clearly a failure of intelligence sharing. It’s completely dreadful that he has been allowed to go to the States and harm individuals. 

‘Clearly one thing has gone fallacious someplace,’ he mentioned. 

Donald Trump Jr. was among the many People who demanded solutions. 

‘How lengthy did the FBI know a radical Islamist overseas nationwide with a felony report was within the nation? Had been they working with him or his associates? How did this individual get a visa? Did he slip by the cracks as a result of they had been too busy surveilling your conservative grandma?’ 

Neither the FBI nor Homeland Safety has commented.  

Supply: Mail On-line