[ad_1]
“Prayers answered. All hostages are alive and well,” Governor Greg Abbott tweeted about 20 minutes after a loud bang and gunshots had been heard within the course of the synagogue.
The situation of the suspect just isn’t but identified.
The decision got here greater than 10 hours after a suspect entered the congregation Beth Israel because the synagogue was livestreaming its Sabbath morning service on Facebook. The livestream gave the impression to be capturing parts of the incident earlier than it was eliminated. Law enforcement officers informed CNN they reviewed the part and used it to assemble clues on the incident and the people concerned.
A regulation enforcement official accustomed to the investigation informed CNN that there have been believed to be 4 hostages, together with a rabbi, on the synagogue in Colleyville, simply outdoors Fort Worth. Several hours into the standoff, Colleyville Police Sgt. Dara Nelson mentioned {that a} hostage has been launched.
No one was reported injured on the time, Nelson mentioned.
Nelson mentioned FBI negotiators had been in touch with the suspect.
Suspect apparently needed Siddiqui to be launched
Officials mentioned it’s believed the suspect needed to launch Siddiqui, based mostly on discussions with each the suspect and audio, heard on the synagogue’s livestream.
The lawyer representing Siddiqui mentioned on Saturday that he had “no involvement” in taking the hostages on the synagogue and added that the perpetrator just isn’t Siddiqui’s brother.
“She doesn’t want any violence to be done against any human being, especially in her name,” Marva Albili informed CNN over the cellphone. “It clearly has nothing to do with Dr. Siddiqui or his family.”
“Whoever the attacker is, we want him to know that his actions have been condemned by Dr. Afia and her family,” Albiel mentioned. “We urge you to immediately release the hostages and get yourself inside.”
At the request of the hostage taker, the rabbi of the congregation being held hostage is alleged to be a widely known rabbi in New York City, two officers briefed on the investigation.
The FBI interviewed a New York City-based rabbi who spoke to the primary hostage taker on Saturday. Officials mentioned the hostage-taker, who has no ties to the rabbi, informed him that Siddiqui had been framed and needed to launch him.
Congregation member Stacey Silverman described switching between watching the livestream for over an hour, listening to suspicious rants, generally saying “I’m not a criminal” to being apologetic in regards to the scenario. She mentioned the suspect was swinging between totally different languages and “shouting hysterically,” she mentioned.
“At some point, I thought there was going to be a gunshot,” Silverman mentioned, including that the suspect claimed to be the bomb.
The congregation is affiliated with the Beth Israel Union for Reform Judaism, whose web site signifies that the congregation serves 157 membership households.
According to the CBI web site, the synagogue, established in 1999 with 25 member households, was the primary Jewish congregation in northeastern Tarrant County. The CBI group formally opened its doorways to its new constructing in 2005.
CBI conducts Sabbath morning companies each Saturday, and members and non-members alike are welcome to observe the livestream from house, a follow many congregations have adopted within the wake of the pandemic.
Who is Afia Siddiqui?
In 2010, Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years in jail by a federal choose in New York after a 14-day trial. A jury discovered him responsible of tried homicide of American residents and authorities workers, in addition to assaults towards US officers and workers.
Siddiqui – a Pakistani scientist who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a doctorate from Brandeis University – was detained in 2008 for questioning by the Afghan National Police, who mentioned that they had discovered handwritten notes that had been doubtless The targets check with “mass casualty attack,” in keeping with a federal indictment.
When a bunch of Americans tried to talk to her, prosecutors mentioned she was in a position to seize an American soldier’s rifle and open hearth on the interrogation crew, though nobody was hit by the bullets.
Upon sentencing, the choose discovered that it was essential to retaliate towards the US authorities, citing statements made by him, together with “I hate Americans” and “Death to America”. To exhibit his actions and intentions.
Siddiqui’s protection argued that she was unable to face trial. But Siddiqui repeatedly clashed together with his legal professionals, telling the choose on the sentencing, “If anyone thinks it’s my madness or something, I’m not mad. I’m not mentally ill. I don’t agree.” She additionally mentioned that she believes Israel is “the mastermind of 9/11.”
His sentence has been the topic of standard protests within the US and overseas. Repeated demonstrations have been organized by the Afia Foundation, a bunch bearing his identify. That group has claimed that he was assaulted in jail final yr.
His household has mentioned in an interview to CNN that he’s not a terrorist.
During a lethal hostage disaster in Algeria in 2013, a spokesman for a terrorist group, together with Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center assault, supplied to launch the hostages if Siddiqui was launched from a US jail, who died. the jail.
Siddiqui is being held at a medical facility that’s a part of a federal jail in Fort Worth, with the discharge date set for 60 years from now.
CNN’s Simeon Prokupez, Evan Perez, Ed Lavandera and Ashley Kylo contributed to this report.
,
[ad_2]
Source link