The alleged suspect who took hostages at a synagogue in Texas on Saturday claims to be the brother of a terrorist who is incarcerated in Texas after she was convicted of trying to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
ABC News reported:
The suspect’s sister is a known terrorist who is incarcerated at Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth and he is demanding to have the sister freed, according to the source.
“One suspect has taken the rabbi and three others hostage at a synagogue in Colleyville, TX. The hostage-taker is claiming to be armed and says his sister is Aafia Siddiqui, who was convicted in New York of trying to kill US military personnel,” ABC News correspondent Aaron Katersky tweeted. “Hostage taker is Muhammad Siddiqui and claims to be Aafia Siddiqui’s brother. He is demanding her freedom from an 86-year prison sentence.”
Aafia Siddiqui is “linked to al Qaeda and was convicted in 2010 of attempting to kill Americans in Afghanistan,” Foreign Policy reported. “Siddiqui … who’s known in counterterrorism circles as ‘Lady al Qaeda,’ has been linked to 9/11 ringleader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and was once on the FBI’s most-wanted terrorists list. Educated in the United States — she studied at M.I.T. and received a doctorate from Brandeis — Siddiqui was arrested in 2008 in Afghanistan carrying sodium cyanide, as well as documents describing how to make chemical weapons and dirty bombs and how to weaponize Ebola. When FBI and military officials tried to question Siddiqui, she grabbed a weapon left on the table in her interrogation room and fired upon them.”
The gunman says he is muslim and holding atleast 6 people says "he will kill people if anyone gets close to the synagogue" https://t.co/4yBnQhQd34 pic.twitter.com/l3liPypch2
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) January 15, 2022
Law enforcement officials in the Dallas-Fort Worth area responded to the incident on Saturday at Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas.
“We are currently conducting SWAT operations around the 6100 block of Pleasant Run Rd. All residents in the immediate area are being evacuated. Please avoid the area,” the Colleyville Police Department wrote. “UPDATE 1/15/22, 1:20 PM The situation at the 6100 block of Pleasant Run Road posted about earlier remains ongoing. We ask that you continue to avoid the area. We will continue to provide updates via social media.”
UPDATE 1/15/22, 1:20 PM The situation at the 6100 block of Pleasant Run Road posted about earlier remains ongoing. We ask that you continue to avoid the area. We will continue to provide updates via social media.
— Colleyville Police (@ColleyvillePD) January 15, 2022
Star Telegram reporter Jessika Harkay tweeted out remarks that the hostage taker allegedly made, which could be heard on the synagogue’s live stream posted on Facebook before the tech giant took down the video.
“Don’t cry on the f***ing phone with me,” a person, who is allegedly the hostage taker, said on the livestream. “Don’t f***ing cry on me. I have 6 beautiful kids … There are hostages in the synagogue who are going to die. … What are you crying for?”
“I’m going to die, are you listening? … I’m going to die doing this, alright? Are you listening? I’m going to die. Don’t cry about me,” the person allegedly says. “I’m going to die. Don’t cry about me. Are you listening? I am going to die.”
Colleyville Police Sgt. Dara Nelson said that law enforcement is in contact with the alleged suspect and that police have not yet entered the building.
“Texas Department of Public Safety officials confirmed that state troopers are helping Colleyville police at the scene, but more information was not available,” WFAA reported. “The FBI was also responding to the situation.”
Democrat President Joe Biden attacked Texas Governor Greg Abbott back in 2019 for signing a bill into law that allowed lawful gun owners to carry firearms in places of worship, repeatedly calling Abbott’s decision “irrational.”
“Dealing with firearms, it is irrational, with all due respect to the governor of Texas, irrational what they are doing,” Biden told reporters on September 2. “On the very day you see a mass shooting … and we’re talking about loosening access to have guns, to be able to take them into places of worship, it’s just absolutely irrational. It’s totally irrational.”