How was Colleyville hostage ‘terrorist’ able to enter US, despite red flags in UK?
President Joe Biden’s administration is still piecing together how the Colleyville synagogue hostage-taker, a British citizen who had raised red flags with U.K. intelligence, was able to travel into the United States for the express purpose of terrorism.
Saturday’s standoff at Congregation Beth Israel near Fort Worth was the first time in years that a foreign national had successfully entered the United States and carried out terrorist violence — a fact that caught U.S. officials, who have increasingly focused on growing threats of domestic and homegrown extremism, off guard.
Malik Faisal Akram, 44, was shot dead after the 11-hour standoff, during which he demanded the release of Aaifa Siddiqui, the first female terrorism defendant arrested after 9/11. She is incarcerated at a federal prison in Fort Worth. All four hostages, including the rabbi, escaped the synagogue unharmed.
Multiple U.S. government sources told McClatchy and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are working closely with British authorities to identify what happened.
MI5, the British equivalent of the FBI, had been watching Akram for several years. British law enforcement had interrogated Akram and had him on a watchlist as recently as 2020.
“We continue to look at exactly what happened to determine if there are any steps we can take to prevent this from happening again,” a U.S. official said. “The U.S. government did not have any information about how he had been detained and interrogated by the British in 2020 — that’s the reason why it wasn’t in the databases when he arrived.”
British officials told McClatchy that they were offering their U.S. counterparts anything they need to assist in the investigation. U.K. law enforcement detained several teenagers after the standoff but released them without charges.
Akram flew direct from England to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Dec. 29. He is believed to have traveled to Dallas where he stayed at homeless shelters for several days.
His brother, Gulbar, has publicly questioned why Akram was allowed to travel to the United States and wrote in a now-private Facebook group that he “was suffering from mental health issues.” “He’s known to police. Got a criminal record,” he told Sky News UK.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that U.S. officials did not appear to have any reason to deny Akram’s entry into 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 government did not have any derogatory information about the individual at the time of entry,” Psaki said at a briefing. “We’re certainly looking back, as I referenced, to learn every possible lesson, and to prevent attacks like this in the future.”
‘TERRORISM’ INVESTIGATION
Terrorism experts say the designation of the Colleyville standoff as an “act of terror” — and the probe being a terrorism investigation – makes little difference at this stage.
“Ultimately, in the wake of an attack, there’s not much of a difference,” said Matthew Levitt, a former FBI investigator and deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the Treasury Department.
“When you’re trying to foil an attack, then describing something as a terrorism investigation opens you up to the ability to tap phones via FISA, not just Title III, and certain abilities in terms of running sources,” Levitt said, referring to legal tools for the use of wiretaps.
“But in the wake of an attack, especially since there’s not someone in custody — the attacker was killed — there really is very, very little difference. It’s a matter of public perception more than anything else.”
Biden referred to the attack as an act of terror on Sunday. Psaki was asked about his statement during the briefing Tuesday.
“There’s no question that, when somebody goes into a house of worship, and threatens and holds hostage individuals who are there, that that is an act of terror. That is terrorism. That is why he called it that,” Psaki told reporters. “Because it’s very clear it’s what it is.”
Arie Perliger, director of the graduate program in security studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, said the fact that all four hostages were unharmed does not mean the standoff wasn’t an act of terror.
“They were held hostage against their will,” Perliger said, “so that is the violence that’s aimed at those individuals that were held up. But I don’t think it’s always useful to determine if something is a terrorist attack just based on how it ended.”
Perliger said he expects the investigation to focus on whether Akram received any assistance.
“We want to make sure he’s not part of an international network that tried to radicalize or mobilize,” Perlinger said. “We want to see if he got logistical assistance. The fact that he was independent doesn’t mean he didn’t get any kind of assistance from other actors, sources or organizations.”
A manager at a Dallas shelter told the Star-Telegram on Tuesday that Akram was dropped off there Jan. 2 by a man who spent 15 to 20 minutes in the center with Akram before giving him a hug and leaving. The shelter has given its security footage to the FBI.
Michael A. Wilner, McClatchy’s senior national security and White House correspondent, reported from Washington. Star-Telegram staff writer Nichole Manna reported from Fort Worth; staff writer Abby Church contributed.
This story was originally published January 18, 2022, 5:19 PM.
