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 we’re 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
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