White House: Texas hostage-taker had raised no red flags
Source: AP
By MICHAEL BALSAMO, JAKE BLEIBERG and ERIC TUCKER
DALLAS (AP) The gunman who took four people hostage at a Texas synagogue in a 10-hour standoff that ended in his death was checked against law enforcement databases before entering the U.S. but raised no red flags, the White House said.
Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen, arrived in the U.S. at Kennedy Airport in New York on a tourist visa about two weeks ago, officials said. He spent time in Dallas-area homeless shelters before the attack Saturday in the suburb of Colleyville.
Akram was not believed to be included in the Terrorist Screening Database, a listing of known or suspected terrorists maintained by the FBI and shared with a variety of federal agencies, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. Had he been included, it would have been extremely difficult for him to get into the country.
Our understanding, and obviously were still looking into this, is that he was checked against U.S. government databases multiple times prior to entering the country, and the U.S. government did not have any derogatory information about the individual in our systems at the time of entry, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
Charlie Cytron-Walker, rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, center, makes a statement to the media after a service at White's Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. The church held a healing service for congregants and members of the community after Saturday's standoff at the synagogue. (Rebecca Slezak/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/texas-europe-dallas-new-york-religion-0134b44ad4f4e64935a66b94127e9448
Escurumbele
(3,412 posts)heavily armed...Why did they kill him? That part I don't get, I think it would have been better to catch him alive to ask questions.
It seems to me that in these type of cases the law always seems to kill the kidnappers, when they should be kept alive to find out if he was just crazy enough to act alone, or if he belonged to a bigger group.
Behind the Aegis
(54,057 posts)I haven't seen anything stating he was killed by LEO. The only accounts I have seen have stated something along the lines of "it is unknown if he died as a result of LEO actions or a self-inflicted gun shot".
mitch96
(13,944 posts)oldsoftie
(12,673 posts)Wonder if it was a one way ticket? That's another red flag
samsingh
(17,604 posts)might be worth having an interview with the guy with a trained border guard before letting him in.
sort of like the 911 hijackers that took training to fly an airplane but not to land them. Red flag there too.
IronLionZion
(45,646 posts)samsingh
(17,604 posts)oldsoftie
(12,673 posts)She is not related to him; except maybe in his mind
IronLionZion
(45,646 posts)oldsoftie
(12,673 posts)As we've seen WAY too many times
IronLionZion
(45,646 posts)while visiting on a tourist visa and living in homeless shelters.
mitch96
(13,944 posts)IronLionZion
(45,646 posts)since NRA types claim they don't like terrorists.
mitch96
(13,944 posts)that would jeopardize their right to buy guns... The gun lobby is powerful.. I don't know how to change this situation..
m
llashram
(6,265 posts)in identifying these types and the 1/6/21 types. They are sitting in their rat holes waiting for their leaders to scream cheese, come and get it. Or they are racist, bigoted types just doing their level best to hate who they might see as 'others' or a threat of some type according to Fox...