Colleyville’s hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel, Texas had been almost eleven hours long when it was abruptly overthrown around 9:15 yesterday.
Four people, including the rabbi, had been taken hostage by a man who said he wanted the release of Aafia Siddiqui, the woman known as “Lady al Qaeda,” who was being held in a nearby federal prison. Siddiqui was convicted for plotting to murder U.S. military personnel while being detained by Afghans and received an 86-year sentence. Numerous protests have taken place, even ones organized by CAIR in an attempt to get her released. She’s gotten the support of militants in the past, Fox notes.
Ohioan Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, who confessed that he had planned to kill U.S. troops after being trained in Syria, also said that he intended to fly to Texas in order to strike Siddiqui’s Federal Prison in Texas. Abdirahman Shik Mohamud was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment in 2018.
The hostage situation continued for 11 hours. One person was freed shortly after 5:00 pm, unharmed. This was an encouraging sign that hostage negotiators were moving forward.
Next, we received the latest from Gov. Greg Abbott just after 9:30 p.m.
All prayers answered
All hostages have been released alive and are safe.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 16, 2022
Here is the WFAA TV photographer Josh Stephen’s video. This shows the hostages running from one of the synagogue doors. He then followed him with a gun. SWAT officers and law enforcement with heavy arms surrounded the synagogue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf3J9qcVJhc
After the hostage-taker fled, he returned to the synagogue. Law enforcement then crashed the building. You can hear shots and an audible bang, which is likely a flashbang, in order to distract him. The hostages managed to escape safely.
The man has now been identified as a British national, although they haven’t yet identified him by name.
JUST IN: A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office confirms that the Texas hostage-taker of the synagogue was British.
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) January 16, 2022
That raises a lot of questions about how he got here, what his purposes were, and whether he was previously identified as a problem — if he had any prior criminal background, as well as what relation, if any, he had to Siddiqui or al Qaeda.
About Post Author
