Gunman at Texas synagogue not on terror lists, Psaki says
COLLEYVILLE, Texas — The gunman who took four people hostage at a Texas synagogue in a 10-hour standoff that ended in his death was checked against law enforcement databases before entering the U.S. but raised no red flags, the White House said Tuesday.
Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen, arrived in the U.S. at Kennedy Airport in New York about two weeks ago, a law enforcement official said. He spent time in Dallas-area homeless shelters before the attack Saturday in the suburb of Colleyville, and was dropped off at one by someone he appeared to know.
Wayne Walker, CEO and pastor of OurCalling, which provides services to homeless people, said Akram was brought to the shelter in downtown Dallas on Jan. 2 by a man who hugged him and had conversations with him, said.
“He was dropped off by somebody that looked like he had a relationship with him,” said Walker, who added that OurCalling turned photos and video over to the FBI.
An FBI spokeswoman said Monday that they did not have any information they could confirm regarding Akram’s stay at the OurCalling facility. The FBI has said there was no indication anyone else was involved in the standoff.
British media, including the Guardian, reported Tuesday that Akram was investigated by the domestic intelligence service MI5 as a possible “terrorist threat” in the second half of 2020, but the investigation was closed after authorities concluded he posed no threat.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Akram
appears not to have set off any alarms in U.S. terrorism databases when he entered the country.
“Our understanding, and obviously we’re still looking into this, is that he was checked against U.S. government databases multiple times prior to entering the country, and the U.S. government did not have any derogatory information about the individual in our systems at the time of entry,” Psaki said.
Akram, originally from the northern British town of Blackburn, had arrived in the U.S. just before the New Year after leaving Britain on Dec. 29, but much is unknown about why he targeted the Congregation Beth Israel during a Saturday service.
Gulbar Akram, Akram’s brother, has described his sibling as mentally unwell and said he also had a criminal past and was known to British police. He questioned how his brother was allowed to enter the U.S., but maintained that he did not believe his brother was anti-Semitic.
Family members said they had been cooperating with British authorities, and Gulbar Akram spoke with his brother during the 10-hour standoff, trying to persuade him to release the hostages and turn himself
in.
During the standoff, Akram could be heard on a Facebook livestream demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who is suspected of having ties to al-Qaida and was convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan. The prison where Siddiqui is serving her sentence is in nearby Fort Worth.
An attorney in Texas who represents Siddiqui said the prisoner had no connection to Akram.
The investigation stretched to England, where over the weekend police announced that two teenagers were in custody in connection with the standoff. The teenagers are Akram’s sons, two U.S. law enforcement officials said.
On Tuesday, police in Britain said the teenagers had been released without charge. They were detained in Manchester, 30 miles from Akram’s hometown of Blackburn.
Federal investigators believe Akram bought the handgun used in the hostage-taking in a private sale, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.