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Texas synagogue siege: British gunman had cup of tea with 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 ‘appeared 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 companies 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 useless by SWAT groups after the hostages escaped. 

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

‘After I took him in, I stayed with him. Making tea was a possibility 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 might 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. That they had tea collectively, then the rabbi went to guide 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 practically 12 hours later. The gunman was shot useless 

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 needed’. 

‘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 possibility the place he wasn’t in a superb 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 distant. 

‘I informed 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 generally known as Faisal Akram, had ranted that he wished he had died within the 9/11 terror assaults. He was an everyday 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 ‘Woman 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 needed 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 buddies.

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

Siddiqui lied to her husband and after they wed over the cellphone he was surprised 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 images 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, ultimately received her twisted want and have become probably the most needed girl on the planet by the FBI. 

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

However her hatred for the U.S. was so robust that in her interrogation she grabbed a rifle from one in all her guards and shot at them shouting: ‘Demise to Individuals’.

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

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

At MIT she made few buddies and was remembered as clever, pushed and an everyday 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 target 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 turned 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 knowledgeable Evan Kohlmann mentioned: ‘Aafia was from a distinguished household with connections and a sympathy for jihad. She was simply what they wanted.’

In 1993 as she and a few buddies debated increase cash for Muslims being killed throughout the Bosnian Struggle, one in all them joked that they didn’t wish to go on the FBI’s Most Wished Listing.

Waqas Jilani, then a graduate pupil at Clark College, mentioned: ‘She raised her skinny little wrists within the air and mentioned: ‘I’d be proud to be on the Most Wished record 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 record’. 

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

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

‘A part of it was as a result of she was such a foul shot, but in addition as a result of she was all the time mouthing off concerning 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 cellphone earlier than he flew to Boston.

However upon arrival he found that removed from being the quiet spiritual 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 objective in life. As a substitute, it was to achieve prominence in Muslim circles.’

Khan described to the Boston Globe how she repeatedly 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 might be a part of her.

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

Khan mentioned: ‘Invariably this is able to 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 Individuals in order that all of them develop into 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 received 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 youngsters 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 needed Al Qaeda operatives, and the one girl. 

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

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

‘It gained’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 prison document. 

His household say he was mentally in poor health and was mourning the latest 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 throughout the stand-off, he demanded the discharge of  ‘Woman Al Qaeda’ Aafia Siddiqui. 

She is being held in jail in Fort Value for attempting to homicide Individuals 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 she or he was dropped at 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 residing within the US throughout the 9/11 assaults however then fled to Pakistan, fearing that her youngsters 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 having the ability to escape from the gunman. 

‘Through the years, 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 Neighborhood Community,’ he mentioned.

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

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

‘With out the instruction we acquired, we might not have been ready to behave and flee when the scenario introduced itself.’   

Akram’s prison document is just not but identified however his brother informed Sky Information within the UK that he was identified to police. 

‘He’s identified to police. Acquired a prison document. 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 informed 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 damage folks. 

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

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

‘How lengthy did the FBI know a radical Islamist overseas nationwide with a prison document 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