Hostage-taking in Texas: Biden gives reason for "act of terrorism" in synagogue - and announces consequences

Created: 01/16/2022, 21:04

By: Jonas Raab

A Briton took four hostages at a Jewish church service in Texas.

The FBI was able to free her after ten hours.

According to US President Biden, the crime had a prelude in Afghanistan.

Colleyville/Washington – The day after the hostage-taking in Texas, the shock in America* is still deep.

During a Jewish service in the small town of Colleyville near Dallas, a gunman stormed the local synagogue, kidnapping the rabbi and at least three other people.

Ten hours later, Texas governor Greg Abbott gave the all-clear via Twitter: All hostages were "alive and safe," he wrote.

After hours of negotiations with the hostage-taker, special forces broke into the synagogue on Saturday evening (January 15; local time) and freed the hostages, according to police in the city of Colleyville near Dallas.

The hostage-taker died.

Exactly how, the police left open.

Hostage-taking in the Texas synagogue: The service was broadcast live on Facebook

The service was first broadcast live on the congregation's Facebook* page.

The local

newspaper reported that during the live stream, the voice of an angry man could be heard ranting and cursing and discussing religion, among other things.

He said several times that he didn't want to hurt anyone and that he believed he was going to die.

At some point the transmission stopped.

Police vehicles are parked in the driveway of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue.

After more than ten hours, they were able to end the hostage-taking.

© picture alliance/dpa/AP |

Brandon Wade

The police arrived with a large contingent of around 200 officers.

Experts from the Federal Police FBI kept in touch with the kidnapper throughout the day and negotiated with him.

The situation was unclear for a long time.

The first all-clear came early in the evening: a male hostage was released unharmed.

A few hours later, officials stormed the synagogue and freed the remaining hostages.

Initially, it remained unclear how the liberation took place.

Texas: British hostage-taker dies - lots of ambiguity

The US federal police identified the kidnapper as a 44-year-old British citizen* named Malik Faisal Akram.

The FBI in Dallas said there is currently no evidence of other people involved in the crime.

Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller said it was not yet clear why the man targeted the local synagogue.

US President Joe Biden* said in a written statement: "In the coming days we will learn more about the motives of the hostage-taker." He emphasized that anyone who wants to spread hate should know: "We will stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of extremism in this country.”

US President Biden names the background to the hostage-taking in Texas: "Lady Kaida"

On Sunday (January 16), Biden then described the hostage-taking as an “act of terrorism.” During a visit to Philadelphia, the US President hinted that the perpetrator had demanded the release of Pakistani Aafia Siddiqui, who is being held in the US on terrorism charges. The crime is related "to someone who was arrested 15 years ago and has been in prison for 10 years," Biden said, confirming media reports from the previous day.

Siddiqui was educated at one of the top universities in the USA, MIT in Cambridge. Later, US authorities added her name to a list of suspects linked to al-Qaeda terrorists. In July 2008, Siddiqui was arrested in Ghasni, Afghanistan, and in 2010 he was sentenced by a US federal judge to 86 years in prison for an attack on US soldiers in Afghanistan*. During interrogation at a police station, she took a gun lying on the ground and aimed it at a US soldier and a translator, without hitting them.

US tabloid media gave her the nickname "Lady Qaeda" in reference to the extremist network al-Qaeda.

The case had caused outrage in Pakistan.

Siddiqui is incarcerated in Texas.

Her lawyer told

that she had "absolutely nothing" to do with the hostage-taking.