Texas synagogue hostage-taking: UK police arrest two people in connection to investigation
Malik Faisal, a British national, was identified as the individual responsible for the hostage-taking incident
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police in the United Kingdom have arrested two teenagers allegedly connected to the hostage-taking at a Dallas area Synagogue over the weekend.
"As part of the ongoing investigation into the attack that took place at a Synagogue in Texas on 15 January 2022, Officers from the Counter Terror Policing North West have made two arrests in relation to the incident," the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement on Twitter Sunday.
Law enforcement officials block a residential street near Congregation Beth Israel synagogue where a man took hostages during services on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Colleyville, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Two teenagers were detained in South Manchester this evening," the statement continued. "They remain in custody for questioning."
The news comes after Malik Faisal Akram, a British national, was identified as the individual responsible for the hostage-taking incident in Texas over the weekend.
Akram was identified by the FBI as the hostage taker at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, near Fort Worth, which resulted in an hours-long standoff with police Saturday that ended in the hostages escaping unscathed and the death of Akram.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Law enforcement officials talk to each other after a news conference where they announced that all hostages at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue were safe and the hostage taker was dead on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Colleyville, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Akram allegedly demanded that the U.S. release Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman who is imprisoned in Texas on charges of trying to kill American service members in Afghanistan. Siddiqui is serving an 86-year prison sentence after being convicted in the 2008 incident in Manhattan in 2010.
The FBI said that it is still processing evidence from the scene of the synagogue, though it noted that investigators believed Akram acted alone.
"The FBI’s Evidence Response Team (ERT) will continue processing evidence at the synagogue. At this time, there is no indication that other individuals are involved," FBI Dallas said in an emailed statement.
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President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (AP)
"The FBI’s North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force (NTJTTF), which includes member agencies from across the region, will continue to follow investigative leads," the statement continued. "An FBI Shooting Incident Review Team (SIRT) will conduct a thorough, factual, and objective investigation of the events."
President Biden reacted to the incident earlier Sunday, calling it "an act of terror" while vowing that his administration would support synagogues overcome "the antisemitism that’s ramping up."