[Rashida Tlaib pal...] Texas officials say all hostages safe, out of Colleyville synagogue; hostage-taker dead

[David Fritz]

Don't mess with Texas.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article257360862.html

The FBI and local police said at a news conference Saturday night that
three hostages who were held in a Colleyville synagogue for nearly 11
hours are unharmed and the hostage-taker is dead after a hostage rescue
team breached the building. Authorities said the hostage-taker was killed
in a shooting but did not answer a question about whether he was shot by
law enforcement or if the gunshot was self-inflicted. The man claimed to
have explosives, according to statements he made on livestreamed video,
but police have not commented on whether any weapons were found. Exclusive
video taken by WFAA-TV photographer Josh Stephen shows at least some of
the hostages running out of a door at the synagogue just before FBI agents
enter the building. The footage, shot just before 9:15 p.m., shows a man
who appears to be holding a gun following the hostages as they escape,
then almost immediately going back inside. Officials said the rescued
hostages are being interviewed by the FBI and will be reunited with their
families as soon as possible. Authorities did not release the name of the
hostage-taker or the ages of the hostages, but did confirm they were all
adults. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted about 9:30 p.m. that all hostages,
including the congregation’s rabbi, were safe and out of the synagogue
after a loud bang and gunfire were heard.

U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne first told a Star-Telegram reporter in a text
that the hostage-taker was dead. Police responded to Congregation Beth
Israel, at 6100 Pleasant Run Road, about 10:40 a.m. when a man took four
hostages during a livestreamed morning service at the synagogue. The man,
who police say they have identified but have not named, released one
hostage about 5 p.m. “I am grateful for the safe release of the four
hostages and thankful for the skilled and dedicated law enforcement who
made their safe release possible,” Van Duyne said on Twitter. A loud bang
followed by what sounded like gunfire was heard about 9:12 p.m. Saturday
by reporters outside the synagogue.

Colleyville police confirmed in a statement on social media the the
situation was resolved and all hostages were safe then spoke to the media
at 10:15 p.m. HOSTAGE-TAKER HEARD NEGOTIATING WITH POLICE ON LIVE VIDEO
Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller said about 200 law enforcement
officers responded to the scene throughout the day. Colleyville is about
15 miles northeast of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County. The North Tarrant
Regional SWAT Team initially responded as officers evacuated residents
from nearby homes and set up a perimeter. Control of the scene was then
handed off to the FBI, including SWAT and elite teams whose sole mission
is to negotiate and conduct hostage rescues. FBI Special Agent in Charge
Matthew DeSarno from the Dallas field office said the rescue of the
hostages and death of the hostage-taker “was a result of a long, long day
of hard work by nearly 200 law enforcement officers from across this
region.

Communication between FBI negotiators and the hostage-taker was nearly
constant throughout the day, with some periods of silence. DeSarno said
the hostages’ survival was almost certainly due to that constant
communication. “We do believe that, from engaging with the subject, he was
singularly focused on one issue and it was not specifically related to the
Jewish community,” DeSarno said. DeSarno did not discuss what that issue
was during the press conference but said it was referenced in the
livestreamed video of the hostage incident. DeSarno said that the FBI
doesn’t have any evidence of an ongoing threat and that a federal
investigation will be conducted globally, with special focuses on Tel Aviv
and London. “We will continue to work to find motives and we will continue
on that path in terms of the resolution of the incident.”

Before the Facebook livestream was taken offline about 2 p.m., an angry
man could be heard ranting, at times talking about religion. The video did
not show what was happening in the building. The man repeatedly mentioned
his sister and Islam and used profanities. He was heard asking for his
“sister” to be released from prison. The man said a few times he didn’t
want anyone hurt, and he mentioned his children. He also said repeatedly
he believed he was going to die. A U.S. official briefed on the matter
told ABC News that the suspect was referring to a known terrorist, Aafia
Siddiqui, as his sister. Siddiqui is incarcerated at Federal Medical
Center Carswell, a women’s prison in Fort Worth, and the hostage-taker was
reportedly demanding that she be freed from prison. According to ABC, the
FBI did not confirm the hostage-taker’s identity. Anyone who supports
Siddiqui’s cause might call himself her brother even if they’re not
related. The Star-Telegram spoke with an attorney who previously
represented a brother of Siddiqui. The attorney said she talked to that
brother Saturday and he was not the hostage-taker. Law enforcement had
visuals on the hostage taker and were both comparing them with photos of
her brother and against their own databases, according to a source
familiar with the investigation. AAFIA SIDDIQUI Aafia Siddiqui is a
Pakistani woman who is imprisoned on charges related to the attempted
murder and assault of United States officers and employees in Afghanistan.
Aafia Siddiqui was transferred to FMC Carswell for medical reasons and is
serving an 86-year sentence. The Pakistani government lodged a complaint
against U.S. authorities after she reported she was assaulted by another
inmate in July. Aafia Siddiqui told her attorney she was attacked in her
cell on July 30, the Dallas-Fort Worth sector of the Council on American-
Islamic Relations previously told the Star-Telegram. Another woman
reportedly smashed a coffee mug with scalding hot liquid into Siddiqui’s
face. After the attack, Siddiqui was taken out of her cell in a wheelchair
and then forced into solitary confinement, CAIR Executive Director Faizan
Syed has said. U.S. authorities say Siddiqui is a dangerous terrorist with
ties to the ringleader of 9/11. Counter-terrorism groups have dubbed her
“Lady al-Qaeda,” and U.S. officials once described her as “the most wanted
woman in the world.” The U.S. government has refused to trade her for
American hostages multiple times, including for journalist James Foley
prior to his execution by ISIS. According to the Department of Justice,
Siddiqui was detained in Afghanistan in 2008. Officers who searched her
found documents about the creation of explosives, descriptions of American
landmarks and sealed bottles of chemicals, according to a press release
about her arrest. While in the Afghan facility, U.S. Army officers said,
Siddiqui grabbed a rifle from an officer, pointed it at a captain and
yelled, “May the blood of [unintelligible] be directly on your
[unintelligible, possibly head or hands].” An interpreter lunged at her
and pushed the rifle away as Siddiqui pulled the trigger, according to the
DOJ. Siddiqui fired at least two shots but did not hit anyone. An Army
officer shot Siddiqui in the torso. In Pakistan, she is widely portrayed
as a heroine and martyr. Her family and supporters say the mother of three
was falsely accused and used as a scapegoat in the “war on terror” after
9/11, according to a profile in the Guardian. In 2018, the Senate of
Pakistan unanimously passed a resolution to take up the matter of
Siddiqui’s freedom with the U.S., referring to her as “the Daughter of the
Nation.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the hostage-
taking incident in a statement. “This antisemitic attack against a house
of worship is unacceptable,” CAIR’s Houston chapter said in the statement.
“We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, and we pray that law
enforcement authorities are able to swiftly free the hostages and bring
them to safety.” “We want to make it very well known that the hostage-
taker is NOT Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s brother, who is not even in the same
region where this horrible incident is taking place,” the CAIR statement
said. “We want the hostage-taker to know that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and her
family strongly condemn this act and do not stand by you. Dr. Aafia’s
family has always stood firm in advocating for the release of their sister
from incarceration by legal and non-violent means only.” At Saturday
night’s press conference, the FBI would not confirm any connection between
the hostage taker and Aafia Siddiqui. “All I can confirm is that what you
heard on the livestream you did hear on the livestream,” DeSarno said.
DeSarno said investigations into the hostage-taker, as well as an
independent investigation into the shooting that occurred during the
hostage rescue, are ongoing and that more details will become available
over the course of those investigations. Authorities said they’re also
investigating why and how the hostage-taker targeted the Colleyville
synagogue. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human
rights organization with more than 400.000 members, said in a statement,
“It’s no accident that a synagogue was chosen for this attack.” “By all
available information this was a well-planned scenario designed to gain
entrance into the synagogue by posing as a homeless man,” Simon Wiesenthal
Center CEO and founder Rabbi Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, associate
dean and director of global social action, wrote in the statement. “The
terrorist and those who planned this attack counted on the kindness of a
rabbi to gain entry into the synagogue.”

PRAYERS FOR RABBI FROM LOCAL JEWISH, MUSLIM LEADERS Commenters on the
livestream offered prayers for Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, 46, who was
among the hostages. More than 8,000 viewers were watching the livestream.
A member of the congregation told the Star-Telegram most members watch the
service online via Zoom or Facebook Live, and that’s why there were so few
people in the synagogue. The four people who were taken hostage were
running the service. Cytron-Walker has served as the congregation’s rabbi
first full-time rabbi since 2006. He is originally from Lansing, Michigan
and attended the University of Michigan. Public records show he lives with
his wife Adena Cytron-Walker in North Richland Hills and has two
daughters.

“All we can do right now is pray for those members inside the
congregation, for the whole community, and for our friend, Rabbi Cytron-
Walker and his wonderful family,” Rabbi Brian Zimmerman and President Russ
Schultz of Beth-El Congregation in Fort Worth said in an email message to
members of their congregation while the standoff was ongoing. “Some of you
asked about security. President Russ Schultz and I want to assure you that
all of our Tarrant County Jewish Congregations work closely with the
Jewish Federation, local police departments, the Department of Homeland
Security and a host of other professional groups to constantly evaluate
our security procedures,” Zimmerman wrote. “Following what we pray is a
safe resolution, those groups will certainly meet and learn from this
situation for the future.” Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said the
department has increased patrols around synagogues and other relevant
locations in the city. “We’ve also been in contact with members of the
Jewish community to find out firsthand how we can best support them, in
addition to the prayers they requested,” he said. Jawaid Alam, president
of the Islamic Center of Southlake, told the Star-Telegram that Cytron-
Walker is a personal friend and a friend of the Muslim community who has
promoted peace and cooperation across faiths. “He is a peace-loving
person, a Rabbi and Jewish leader, but a true friend of the Muslim
community,” Alam said. “He and his family are considered part of the
Muslim community, and he considers us part of the Jewish community.” Alam
said it is “unthinkable that this would happen at the synagogue of a
peace-loving rabbi who has promoted interfaith talks.”

Cytron-Walker has been a teacher to the Muslim community in the region,
not just to his Jewish congregation, he said. “He has taught us how to
live with people different from you and love each other,” Alam said. He
added that the Islamic Center of Southlake had not yet made contact with
Cytron-Walker’s family to respect any space they may need, but wanted them
to know the community is there for them. “The Muslim community is with
them and we will do anything we possibly can for them.”

Congregation Beth Israel began in 1998 as a community Chavurah whose
members had relocated to northeast Tarrant County from other areas of the
country, according to its website. Congregation Beth Israel was officially
established on July 18, 1999, with 25 member families and affiliation with
the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, now the Union of Reform
Judaism. A new building with a 160-seat sanctuary opened in 2005. The
synagogue also operates a religious school. TIMELINE OF RESCUE Shabbat
morning service began at 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the Reform Jewish
congregation’s calendar, and police were called about 40 minutes later.
DeSarno said he could not offer any insight into why the hostage rescue
team moved in when they did, but emphasized that it was a “deliberate
decision,” which he was a part of making. “As Chief Miller said, the FBI
hostage rescue team, I consider one of the crown jewels of our
organization,” DeSarno said. “Their mission is to conduct deliberate
hostage rescues when necessary. In this in this case, we had a necessity
for that. And they were successful, I’m very proud of that. I’m also
extremely proud of the team of negotiators, FBI agents, local police
officers who worked all day long and engaged with the subject and likely
saved the lives of the subjects just through their engagement.” The White
House said on social media that President Joe Biden had been briefed about
the hostage situation as it developed. “He will continue to receive
updates from his senior team as the situation develops,” the White House
said. “Senior members of the national security team are also in touch with
federal law enforcement leadership.” After the hostages were rescued,
Biden thanked law enforcement and sent love and strength to the
Colleyville congregation. Biden said motivations for the hostage-taker
remain unclear but decried acts of anti-Semitism. “There is more we will
learn in the days ahead about the motivations of the hostage taker,” Biden
said in a statement. “But let me be clear to anyone who intends to spread
hate — we will stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of
extremism in this country. That is who we are, and tonight, the men and
women of law enforcement made us all proud.” A police spokeswoman said
after Saturday night’s briefing that there was no way to know exactly how
long it would take for residents who were evacuated in the area to be
returned to their homes, but police and FBI were working as quickly as
possible to make that happen. Jacy Phillips of Colleyville said her
neighborhood group was alerted by Colleyville police Saturday morning. “It
was posted that police were evacuating some homes,” Phillips said. Her
family lives a half mile from the synagogue. “Colleyville is one of the
safest cities in Texas and this is something that you don’t ever expect to
happen in your own city,” Miller, the police chief, said. “The rabbi is a
personal friend of mine. He’s a close friend of mine. And so obviously
it’s very personal.” “But, you know, I see lots of hope. And what we saw
was a crisis here, but there’s lots of hope in how the community came
together. I have received calls from my colleagues across the nation. I’ve
received calls from people that I haven’t dealt with in many years across
lots of my career. This community, other churches, have all reached out.
Food has been brought. Our people have been cared for. And so, you know,
lots of people praying today.”