Colleyville hostage crisis leads to heightened US terror threat from al Qaeda, ISIS
Al Qaeda and Islamic State have increased their calls for lone-wolf attacks across the United States and Europe in recent weeks, inspired by the Jan. 15 hostage standoff at the synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, U.S. officials warned Monday.
The foreign terrorist groups also have found common cause with white supremacist groups in the United States, which have praised the Colleyville incident in online platforms, U.S. officials say.
The Department of Homeland Security has picked up “an increase in calls for replication” of the Colleyville standoff in online chatter, senior DHS officials said, including threats from media operations associated with al Qaeda and Islamic State that include a “greater specificity” of potential targets.
“Prior to the events in Colleyville, we were seeing a significant level of activity by media organizations associated with al Qaeda and ISIS where they were seeking to inspire followers to conduct lone offender attacks in the U.S.,” one senior DHS official told reporters.
During and after the event, the official said, DHS began monitoring increased online activity “actually pointing to Colleyville as an example of the types of activities that lone offenders should be taking.”
The warning comes as DHS issues a new bulletin in the National Terrorism Advisory System, which states that “supporters of foreign terrorist organizations have encouraged copycat attacks following the January 15, 2022 attack on a synagogue in Colleyville.”
“Ironically, we have also seen calls on white supremacist platforms as well, noting the events in Colleyville and referencing the fact that the hostage taker didn’t harm anybody further,” the official added. “We saw some reflections on white supremacist platforms where they were complimentary of the targeting of the synagogue.”
Four people including the rabbi were held hostage at Congregation Beth Israel north of Fort Worth by a British national, Malik Faisal Akram, 44. He entered the synagogue before the shabbat services. More than 10 hours later, Akram was killed by law enforcement after all the hostages were able to escape.
Akram had bought a gun from a man in Dallas about two days before the standoff, investigators allege.
Audio from a live stream of the service, which was interrupted by the gunman, revealed the hostage-taker sought freedom for Aafia Siddiqui, wife of one of the architects of the Sept. 11 attacks. Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence in federal prison in Fort Worth for attempting to kill U.S. military personnel and was apprehended in 2008 for plotting a terrorist attack targeting New York City.
Investigators say Akram chose the Colleyville synagogue because of its proximity to the federal prison.
The senior DHS official said that the agency also has seen “an increased call in these types of activities for those who are supporting Aafia Siddiqui.”
Charlie Cytron Walker, rabbi of the congregation and one of the four hostages, plans to testify on Tuesday before Congress as it considers an increase in federal grant money to help secure houses of worship. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has expressed support for a doubling of the grant program funding.
The new threat bulletin also highlights increasingly specific threats of violence against other U.S. institutions, such as historically Black colleges and universities as well as soft infrastructure targets.
“Threats directed at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other colleges and universities, Jewish facilities, and churches cause concern and may inspire extremist threat actors to mobilize to violence,” the bulletin reads. “Domestic violent extremists have also viewed attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure as a means to create chaos and advance ideological goals, and have recently aspired to disrupt U.S. electric and communications critical infrastructure.”
The convergence of targets among white supremacists and foreign terrorist organizations is creating a new dynamic for Homeland Security officials, who now must contend with an increase in both domestic and foreign terrorist threats at once.
“What we’re seeing, and what has been one of the challenges in dealing with the threat environment, is we’re seeing a blending of ideological beliefs,” the DHS official added.
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 1:06 PM.
