UPDATED: "Allahu akbar!" in Texas - Hostage-taker was British Muslim

This is just a short report, since it's Sunday morning and I have better things to do. And I'm tired of these stories. Anyhoo... 

Around 1100 CST yesterday, police were called to Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville TX (a suburb of Dallas), where a man was reported to have interrupted the Shabbat service. 

A live stream of the service on Facebook (since deleted, for some reason) captured audio of a man talking loudly. He could be heard saying: "You get my sister on the phone," and "I am gonna die!" He was also heard saying: "There's something wrong with America." [No kidding! Ed.]

Four people, including the rabbi, were taken hostage. Others were evacuated from the area shortly after.

Apparently the attacker, who has not been named, but has been identified as a "Muslim citizen of Britain", was demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who is currently serving an 86-year prison term in the USA, having been convicted of trying to kill American soldiers while in custody in Afghanistan. 

The attacker claimed to be Ms Siddiqui's brother, but her attorney told the Clinton News Network that the hostage-taker was not her brother, saying Siddiqui's family condemned his "heinous" actions. [No kidding! Ed.]

Texas resident Victoria Francis, who was watching the livestream before it cut out, told AP that she heard the man rant against America and claim he had a bomb. "He was pretty irritated and the more irritated he got, he'd make more threats," she said. 

The cops sent in the SWAT team, while FBI negotiators spent hours talking to the assailant. Explosions and gunfire could be heard before the ten-hour stand-off ended and the hostages released unharmed. Not so the unidentified (so far) jihadi wannabe, who was sent to Paradise where he is presumably being serviced by 72 virgins.

 

UPDATE added at noon: Authorities have identified the Colleyville synagogue hostage-taker as 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram, a British citizen. No more information about Akram has been provided. As to the late Mr Akram's motivation, FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno said "We will continue to work to find motives.... We believe that, from engaging with the subject, he was singularly focused on one issue and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community." [Seriously? Ed.]

Further update added 17/1/22 @ 0600. Greater Manchester (UK) police announced yesterday that "Two teenagers were detained in South Manchester this evening. They remain in custody." Isn't that interesting! The FBI's field office in Dallas had earlier said there was "no indication" that anyone else was involved in the attack on the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue. And then this, mere hours later.

Innocent question from Walt: Mr Akram, a resident of the Blackburn area of Lancashire, UK, arrived in America just two weeks ago. Who let him in? Did anyone ask him his reason for coming to the USA? Just askin'... 

Apparently Mr Malik's brother, Gulbar Malik, wondered the same thing. "He's known to police," the brother told an interviewer from Sky News. "Got a criminal record. How was he allowed to get a visa and acquire a gun?" Good question, to which the FBI/DHS/CBP has no answers.

What is a "hate crime"?

Federal prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against Robert Bowers, the Pennsylvania man they say stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue and opened fire, killing 11 people. Because the people were Jews, and because Mr Bowers allegedly made anti-Semitic statements during the shooting and even in the hospital where he was being treated, and allegedly targeted Jews on social media, he has been charged with committing "hate crimes", for which he may be sentenced to death.

Walt would like to know if the same charges would have been laid had Mr Bowers shot up a Catholic church full of worshippers (like you'd ever find that, nowadays) or a non-denominational public (read: secular) school.

Would the same charges have been laid had the attacker been a Muslim fanatic, or would the murders then be called acts of terrorism? What's the difference between a terrorist crime and a hate crime?

And what if Mr Bowers had been black, and had shot up a meeting of the Aryan nation...or a station full of white cops? That would certainly be a hate-filled act, but if a black man did it, would he not be justified, in the eyes of the NPCs, because of... well, you know....

I believe that there is no excuse, other than self-defence, for killing another human being. That goes double for the killing of the innocent -- infants and unborn children! See "True story of Philadelphia baby-killer now a movie", WWW 24/10/18.

But the "minority status" or the victims or of the killer should make no difference to the "justice" applied or received. That is why slogans like "Justice for Trayvon Martin" make no sense unless the NPCs who shout them also demand justice for the victims of ISIS, justice for the innocent bystanders shot by gangstas, and, yes, justice for the millions of babies whose lives were "terminated" by the likes of Kermit Gosnell, paid by Planned Parenthood with the support of your tax dollars.

I believe also that justice does not include retribution. I am not so naïve as to think that nutbars and recidivists can be rehabilitated and made useful members of society if we just "love" them enough. Hug-a-hoodie just doesn't work because hate cannot always (or ever?) be overcome by love. But an eye for an eye is not the solution.

I am opposed to the death penalty because I am opposed to murder. People like Mr Bowers need to be removed from society, for the protection of society, but in a civilized society, permanent incarceration or perhaps banishment to a Siberia is as far as we ought to go. State-sanctioned murder is no different from "murder by crazy freelancer".

As for "hate crime", I call that a redundancy, since all murder involves hate of some kind. As used by the NPCs today, "hate crime" is just another expression intended to make straight white people -- especially men and Christians -- feel guilty, guilty, guilty! If I were Emperor of the World, I would banish "hate crime" from the statute books and even from the dictionaries. Sadly, hate is part of human nature. You can't overcome hate by mandating "love"... or political correctness.

Footnote: If you're not sure what "NPC" means, click here to see "Why The NPC Meme Triggers NPCs", from The Truth Factory.