You have commented 358 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Britain
Day 5: Texas Synagogue Attacker Was Known to UK Security Service MI5, Judged as No Risk
2022-01-19
For today’s American developments, see here.
[Breitbart] UK citizen Malik Faisal Akram, who had a known history of extreme behaviour stretching back over 20 years was known to British spy agency MI5 but had been judged as no longer posing a threat to the public in 2020, reports in UK media claim.
After 20 years of monitoring, we had just recently taken him off our list. Bad timing I guess.
Malik Faisal Akram, 44, flew to the United States after Christmas 2021, and weeks later took hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. He was shot dead by law enforcement officials at the scene.
And of course, that is where it is supposed to end.
Yet questions remain unanswered over how Akram was able to travel and gain access to a handgun given his long history of extremist behaviour. Just a day after it was revealed that Akram was barred from a UK courthouse just days after 9/11 for threatening staff and making comments about the attacks, it is now reported in UK broadsheet the Daily Telegraph that the Muslim male had been investigated by a British spy agency a little more than a year ago.
Somehow you simply knew there would be more to this story.
Related:
Malik Faisal Akram: 2022-01-18 Was the Terrorist Attack in Colleyville a Replay of the Terrorist Attack in Garland in 2015?
Malik Faisal Akram: 2022-01-18 Many Unanswered Questions
Malik Faisal Akram: 2022-01-18 Dems are using the Capitol riot to hunt political foes, not real threats
Posted by:Besoeker

#21  Perhaps that will be revealed tomorrow, dear Lord Garth.
Posted by: trailing wife   2022-01-19 23:02  

#20  thanks TW

do we know how he got from NYC to dallas
Posted by: Lord Garth   2022-01-19 20:04  

#19  Safe bet those people are now on a list for making the feebs look bad.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2022-01-19 12:38  

#18  He was let in, Lord Garth. At the other link today, just added at the top of this article, one of the stacked links gives more detail about the synagogue end of the timeline. I didn’t think to paste all that into the post, but the key bit that answers your question is

When Cohen arrived at the Reform synagogue, Akram was already inside. CBI Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker greeted Cohen and told him to say hello to their guest who had been outside in the below-freezing weather and was having a cup of tea.

“All the things they tell you to look for in somebody — eyes darting about, hands being jittery or hidden, facial or body expressions being troubled — he didn’t have that,” Cohen recalled. “He was smiling, he was comfortable, he was relaxed… So I really didn’t think much of it.”

The four CBI members inside began services shortly thereafter.

The thrust of that article is that/how the hostages applied their training from an active shooter course. It’s been previously reported that the rabbi talked about all the security training courses and connections the congregation has done.
Posted by: trailing wife   2022-01-19 12:27  

#17  to the list of questions

did he just let himself into the Synagogue or did someone meet him at door and let him in
Posted by: Lord Garth   2022-01-19 12:02  

#16  Repeat of my comment late yesterday.

The FBI didn't breach to save the hostages, they reacted to the Rabbi leading an escape as an opportune moment. Anyone notice they never mentioned this in all the hero-worship erupting afterwards?

https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/rabbi-threw-chair-at-gunman-in-escape-from-texas-synagogue/
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2022-01-19 11:01  

#15  /\ FBI nearly beats Colleyville Police Department, Texas State Police, and Rangers to Beth Israel synagogue. Media makes it clear "local Law Enforcement in charge of the scene, not FBI." FBI seen setting up SATCOM (secure communications package) in nearby parking lot. POTUS given hourly briefings, FBI HRT from Quantico flies to Coffeeville along with 60-70 others from D.C. Everything wrapped up and body bag zipped in less than 12 hours. Pats on the back all around.... and more:

‘Let them go,’ Aafia Siddiqui’s attorney says in video for Colleyville synagogue gunman

Gunman in Texas synagogue standoff was thrown out of a local mosque for erratic behavior days before taking hostages
Posted by: Besoeker   2022-01-19 10:19  

#14  So, just to recap:

1- Guy is on MI-5 bad-guy list for 20 years but then is taken off it for good behavior. Does that mean MI-5 reviews its bad-guy list periodically, or was this a special request?

2- Guy doesn't have two nickels to rub together but manages a transatlantic flight to JFK.

3- Security at JFK doesn't flag him. Does airport secuirty have access to the MI-5 bad-guy list? Was he also on the FBI bad-guy list and was taken off of it also?

4- Guy gets to Colleyville Texas and somewhere along the line acquires a gun. Buys a gun from someone even though he just got to the US. "Hello, infidels! Anyone got a gun they want to sell me?"

5- Guy goes to a specific synagogue and takes hostages.

6- Hostages self-rescue, contrary to early reports of an elite FBI team doing the rescuing.

7- Guy assumes room temperature before he can be interrogated.

Yeah, I don't see any holes in that story. No doubt a lone wolf.
Posted by: Matt   2022-01-19 09:54  

#13  Issued from one of the Dallas mosque caches?
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-01-19 09:00  

#12  #9 - or one of them Pandemic-Era Gun Shows
Posted by: Frank G   2022-01-19 08:51  

#11  /\ Yes, in low orbit over the memory hole as we speak.
Posted by: Besoeker   2022-01-19 08:39  

#10  Forgot the sarc/ tag. Y’all calm down anyway. This will be forgotten by yesterday . No dancing grannies were even harmed.
Posted by: Lowspark   2022-01-19 08:33  

#9  He probably got it from one of the myriad gun vending machines littering the country.
Posted by: Lowspark   2022-01-19 08:24  

#8  Brandon said (somebody told him) he got the gun 'on the street'.

Maybe in Chicago. Or Dallas.
Posted by: Bobby   2022-01-19 08:24  

#7  Gun Violence descended (upon his soul)
Posted by: Merrick Ferret   2022-01-19 08:07  

#6  REF #4: Reportedly bought a gun on the street.
Posted by: Besoeker   2022-01-19 08:06  

#5  I'd imagine his handler the cleanest guy in the "homeless shelter" he allegedly stayed at after arriving in Texas, sidled up to him and said, "People find stuff, you know, things, under the mattresses here..."
Posted by: M. Murcek   2022-01-19 07:33  

#4  Sorry if I've missed this, but did he bring the gun with him through airport security or did he find one lying on the side of the road after he got here?
Posted by: Matt   2022-01-19 07:19  

#3  Removed from the watch list following "a little over a year" of inactivity. Does that mean Akram had undertaken some sort of illegal activity in each of the previous 20 years... thus keeping him on the list ?

According to recently released MI5 Sources and Methods, being a solid chap for 12 months or so places one in good standing again.

School Board meeting terrorism obviously has a higher priority at the Bureau. But, but, but MI5...they never call, they never write.

Cynical, suspicious, and untrusting? Yes, all three. Adding to that, I simply don't believe it all.


Posted by: Besoeker   2022-01-19 05:15  

#2  So. Should Britain be designated a terrorist exporting country along with Packystan, Iran, and Chicago?
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454   2022-01-19 03:12  

#1  Yet questions remain unanswered over how Akram was able to travel and gain access to a handgun given his long history of extremist behaviour.

A "question" or mystery to some possibly. Unfortunately, Akram is unavailable for questioning or interview. More to the story? No, why do you ask ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2022-01-19 02:21  

00:00