Gunman was known to MI5
Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence agency in 2020 received information about Malik Faisal Akram prompted an investigation, but the probe was shut down due to lack of evidence.
THE man who attacked the synagogue in Texas at the weekend had been investigated by British security services in 2020 as a potential Islamist terrorist threat, but the probe was closed, according to media reports this week.
On Tuesday British media outlets including The Guardian, The Times and the BBC reported that Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence agency in 2020 received information about Malik Faisal Akram, who lived in Blackburn in northwest England. There were no details on what the information included.
The reports, citing unnamed government sources, said this prompted an investigation, but the probe was shut down again after a little over a month due to lack of evidence that he was a threat. The agency is now expected to review the investigation.
MI5 keeps tabs on around 3000 jihadist suspects at any one time, and has investigated up to 40,000 individuals in total.
The four hostages were all freed unharmed Sunday afternoon (AEDT), prompting relief in the United States, where the Jewish community and President Biden renewed calls to fight antisemitism.
At one point the standoff involved 200 local, state and federal law enforcement officers massed around Colleyville.
The incident raised questions about why Akram, whose family said he had mental health problems and was known to have a criminal record, was allowed to enter the country at the end of last year.
A Texas aid group said he had spent time in local homeless shelters in the two weeks leading up to the attack, and was dropped off at one by someone he appeared to know.
The FBI has said there was no early indication that anyone else was involved in the hostage-taking.
Several British media outlets have also reported that Akram was banned from a local court in Blackburn for disparaging remarks he made to staff in the days after 9/11, which included rants about the attacks.
Britain has promised “full support” to US investigators after it emerged that Akram was a British citizen.
British police arrested two teenagers in connection with the siege, believed to be Akram’s sons. The pair were reportedly in touch with their father during the incident and have been detained for questioning.
The Muslim Council of Britain called the attack “completely unacceptable,” adding, “We condemn the action in the strongest possible terms.”
TIMES OF ISRAEL
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