FBI Releases Statement Saying Jews Were Targeted But Are Being Protected by Agency 

By: Fern Sidman

In the aftermath of the Texas synagogue hostage crisis, Jewish leaders around the country remain baffled about the FBI’s initial position on Malik Faisal Akram, the terrorist who held four people hostage on Saturday afternoon at a Colleyville synagogue.

The FBI’s remark that made the wire services such as Associated Press, the BBC and other outlets late on Saturday said that the hostage taker’s motive was “not specifically related to the Jewish community.” At that juncture the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, did not release the hostage taker’s name and offered no details on his background.

The comment to the media was made by FBI Special Agent Matt DeSarno, who is in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office.

The Forward reported that a BBC headline declared: “Texas synagogue hostage stand-off not related to Jewish community – FBI.” The A.P. headline, “Hostage taker was not focused on Jewish community, FBI says,” ran atop an article on bostonglobe.com and many other news outlets.

On Sunday, the FBI released his name, age and the fact that he was a British national. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to questions Sunday about Akram’s immigration status and history, according to the AP.  London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Sunday that its counter-terrorism police were liaising with U.S. authorities about the incident, but provided no additional information.

The comment that the FBI’s DeSarno gave to the media caused a ripple effect amongst Jewish leaders who reacted with anger and puzzlement.

In an e-mail to supporters, Anti-Defamation League President Jonathan Greenblatt, said: “We urge law enforcement and prosecutors to investigate the role antisemitism may have played in motivating the suspect.” Greenblatt also said that “it seems apparent, given what we know so far, that the hostage-taker chose his target carefully.”

The Forward also reported that on Sunday, Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, policy director at Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, tweeted: “Yes, it was a complete and total coincidence that the gunman ended up in a synagogue holding Jews captive. Can’t believe the erasure of the Jew hatred at the core of this incident has already begun.”

Fox News reported that Kenneth Marcus, the founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and former assistant U.S. secretary of eduction for civil rights, disagreed, telling Fox News Digital that “the FBI got it wrong.”

He said that the attack was “obviously a matter of antisemitism.”

“Failure of the FBI to understand this is something of a pattern with law enforcement in the United States and frankly in Europe. It seems that time after time, we see law enforcement officials fail to understand when an antisemitic incident occurs, even when it’s entirely obvious, and sometimes the results of that are tragic. This time, fortunately, they have not been,” Marcus said, as was reported by Fox News.

Also speaking to Fox News was Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, an organization that educates individuals about Israel and combats antisemitism. She told Fox News that the notion the hostage-taker did not target the Jewish community is “insulting and disappointing.”

“Trying to separate Jews from the idea that JEWS were targeted on their holy day at their house of worship, is a mistake and it is insulting and disappointing,” Rothstein said, according to the Fox News report.

“It is also dangerous to downplay an attack against Jewish people as being something else at a time of rising anti-Jewish bigotry that we should all be paying attention to. It makes no sense to try and separate Saturday’s hostage crisis from the people who suffered and who were the most impacted: Jews, their Jewish families and the Jewish world,” she added.

During the hostage seize Akram’s demand included the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist with ties to al-Qaeda who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan. She is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence in a Texas jail.

In a January 2012 article entitled, “The Marxist Mission to Destroy Ayaan Hirsi Ali”, second wave feminist leader, scholar and prolific author, Dr. Phyllis Chesler wrote the following of Siddiqui:

“As a student in America, Siddiqui joined the infamous Muslim Students Association and fell under the spell of one of bin Laden’s own mentors who ran a Muslim charity in Brooklyn, New York. Siddiqui’s second husband’s uncle was none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man who planned 9/11. Apparently, the kindly uncle-in-marriage gave up her name to interrogators. However, Siddiqui and her children had disappeared. She was not found until 2008, wandering around in Afghanistan with bomb-making formulas in her possession as well as plans for mass casualty attacks. Under questioning she picked up a gun and shot at her captors.”

In a statement sent to the Jewish Voice on Monday, Dr. Chesler said: “Siddiqui has been, misguidedly, lionized, not only by Islamists, but also by Westerners, including academics, journalists, and feminists who view her actions as heroic, as a form of resistance to racism and colonialism.”

Dr.Chesler added: “But what did she do? After disappearing in Pakistan for many years, she was found “wandering” around in Afghanistan and, according to the DOJ indictment, bearing handwritten notes that referred to a “mass casualty attack” and listed locations in New York City including the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge. An American trained neuroscientist, Siddiqui also had notes about how to construct a “dirty bomb” and a thumb drive that referred to specific “cells” and “enemies.”

She was arrested in Ghazni and while being interviewed “obtained a U.S. officer’s M-4 rifle and attempted to fire it, and did fire it at another U.S. Army officer and other members of the interview team.

That’s not all. She then assaulted one of the interpreters as he tried to obtain the rifle and subsequently also assaulted an FBI agent and other U.S. Army officers who were trying to subdue her.”

Late on Sunday afternoon, the UK based Sun newspaper reported that two teenagers were arrested in the British city of Manchester by anti-terror cops investigating Malik Faisal Akram.

In a statement issued to the media, the Greater Manchester Police said: “As part of the ongoing investigation into the attack that took place at a synagogue in Texas on January 15, 2022, officers from Counter Terror Policing North West have made two arrests.

Two teenagers were detained in south Manchester this evening. They remain in custody for questioning.

On Monday it was reported that the brother of Malik Faisal Akram, has claimed that his brother had a previous criminal record.

Gulbar Akram, the brother of terrorist Malik Faisal Akram, has revealed that his brother had a criminal record in comments to UK media, raising questions about how he was allowed into the United States.

According to Inzamam Rashid, North of England correspondent or Sky News, Gulbar Akram said of his brother: “He’s known to police. Got a criminal record. How was he allowed to get a visa and acquire a gun?”

In a previous statement, Gulbar claimed that his brother suffered from “mental health issues.”

Yahoo News reported that in statement released on Sunday night, the FBI attempted to quell the controversy swirling around Agent DeSarno’s statement to the media in the immediate aftermath of the hostage seize.

The FBI stated: “All of us at the FBI are relieved the hostage situation in Colleyville, Texas, was resolved without physical injury to those taken hostage. We never lose sight of the threat extremists pose to the Jewish community and to other religious, racial, and ethnic groups. We have had a close and enduring relationship with the Jewish community for many years. We continue to work tirelessly with the Secure Community Network, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federation, and others to protect members of the Jewish community from all potential threats.”

The bureau continued by clarifying, “This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Preventing acts of terrorism and violence is the number one priority of the FBI.”