Updated Jan 16, 2022 at 3:05pm
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That identification came after the hostage-taker claimed he was convicted terrorist Aafia Siddique’s brother Muhammad Siddiqui, but her lawyer
told The Daily Beast that he is not Aafia’s biological sibling.
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1. Malik Faisal Akram Is From Blackburn, England, & His Brother Said Their Family ‘Would like to Sincerely Apologize Wholeheartedly to All the Victims’
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In a statement emailed to Heavy, Houston Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston) Board Chair John Floyd and legal counsel for the brother of Dr. Aafia, condemned the synagogue hostage taking situation and said that the “assailant has nothing to do with Dr. Aafia” or her family. The statement read, in part:
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2. President Joe Biden Called the Incident an ‘Act of Terror’ & Said the Suspect Stayed in a Homeless Shelter After Flying to the U.S. About 2 Weeks Ago Via New York
Akram arrived in the United States through JFK International Airport about two weeks before the incident, according to CBS News. It was not immediately clear if Akram was on any kind of watchlist or if he was known to police in the U.S. or in the U.K. prior to the attack. CBS’ Nicole Sganga tweeted, “Federal law enforcement investigating the scene have not yet found any explosive material was on the suspect, a senior federal law enforcement source tells @CBSNews. Per @MacFarlaneNews, federal courts do not show a criminal history for the suspect.”
Sganga added that the FBI believes Akram was able to enter the synagogue “by claiming to be a homeless man. … Investigators assessed through communication w/ the suspect that he appeared ’emotionally unstable.’
At an event on Sunday, January 16, 2022, President Joe Biden said the gunman used weapons bought off the street to carry out an “an act of terror,” Reuters reports.
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3. The Suspect, Who Claimed to Have Set Up Bombs, Said, ‘I Hope I Don’t Have to Shoot Anyone,’ in the Live Video
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4. Aafia Siddiqui Is Accused of Having Ties to 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
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While Aafia Siddiqui’s brother was not the hostage taker, the hostage taker is accused of claiming that affiliation provides clues as to his potential motivation. Thus, it’s worth exploring her background.
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A 2008 news release from the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of Aafia Siddiqui.
She was accused in the “attempted murder and assault of United States nationals and officers and employees,” the news release said. The indictment was filed in Manhattan federal court. It alleged:
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At that time, the indictment said that Aafia Siddiqui was “a 36-year-old Pakistani woman” who “resided in the United States from in or about 1991 until June 2002, and obtained degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University. Siddiqui returned to the United States on December 25, 2002, and departed on January 2, 2003.”
The release said:
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She was later convicted.
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The site reported that Siddiqui’s imprisonment has made her a “superstar” among terrorist groups and in Pakistan.
Foreign Policy reported that Aafia “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.”
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5. The Synagogue’s Rabbi Said ‘I Am Grateful That We Made It Out. I Am Grateful to Be Alive’
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He issued a
statement on Facebook the morning after he and the other hostages were freed saying, “I am thankful and filled with appreciation for all of the vigils and prayers and love and support, all of the law enforcement and first responders who cared for us, all of the security training that helped save us.”
Originally Posted by Caballoflaco
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