The Justice Department has charged a man who allegedly sold a gun to the Texas synagogue kidnapper

Nina Snider January 26, 2022 City Of London Comments Off on The Justice Department has charged a man who allegedly sold a gun to the Texas synagogue kidnapper 47 Views

Henry Williams, who was charged Tuesday with being a felon in possession of a firearm, allegedly sold a semi-automatic pistol to Malik Faisal Akram on January 13, according to a criminal complaint.

Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen, held four people hostage in the community of Beth Israel in an 11-hour standoff on Jan. 15, the FBI said. An FBI team killed Akram after a hostage was released and three fled the synagogue just outside Dallas, officials said.

CNN has reached out to William’s attorney for comment. He made his first appearance in court on Wednesday, according to court documents.

FBI agents and other local authorities were working “around the clock” to figure out how Akram got his gun, Matthew DeSarno, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office, said in a statement. In a press conference last week, DeSarno said the issue remained the “primary gap” in her investigation.

Authorities were able to identify Williams by analyzing Akram’s cellphone records, which showed the two had called each other multiple times between January 11 and 13, according to the complaint.

When authorities first contacted Williams on Jan. 16, Williams told federal investigators that he had met with a man who said he had a British accent but couldn’t remember the man’s name it in the complaint.

Agents interviewed Williams again after he was arrested on a pending state warrant and showed him a photo of Akram, and he confirmed this was the person to whom he sold the pistol, the complaint says.

In the complaint, Williams added “that Akram told him the gun would be used for intimidation because Akram indicated that he wanted her to try to get money from someone who had an outstanding debt to him.”

According to the complaint, Williams was previously jailed for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted possession of a controlled substance. He remains detained ahead of a Jan. 31 pre-trial detention hearing.

“Federal firearms laws are designed to prevent guns from falling into dangerous hands. As a convicted felon, Mr. Williams was barred from carrying, acquiring or selling firearms,” U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham said in a statement. “Whether or not he knew of his buyer’s nefarious intent is largely irrelevant — criminals can’t have guns, period, and the Justice Department is eager to prosecute those who do.”

Two men arrested in UK investigation

Also on Wednesday, two men were arrested in the English city of Manchester as part of an investigation into the standoff at the Texas synagogue, Greater Manchester Police said.
British counter-terrorism investigators have been helping US authorities investigate the incident, which the FBI is treating as a hate crime and act of terrorism.
“Two men were arrested in Manchester this morning as part of the local investigation. They remain in custody for questioning,” Greater Manchester Police said on Wednesday.
Last week, two men were arrested and held for questioning in the English cities of Birmingham and Manchester in connection with the standoff investigation, Greater Manchester Police said at the time, without further comment.
Jewish communities in the US are on heightened alert after the Texas standoff:
US investigators believe Akram was motivated in part by a desire to see the release of extremist Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year federal sentence in Fort Worth, Texas, they said. Her attorney said she was not involved in the Colleyville altercation.

Akram arrived in the United States via New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in late December, a US law enforcement agency familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Akram was known to UK security services and was the subject of a brief investigation in 2020, a UK official told CNN. The investigation was dropped when authorities determined Akram was no longer a threat.
The incident has made Jewish communities across the United States nervous. Attacks on Jews are on the rise, the Anti-Defamation League warns. And while the majority of anti-Semitic incidents involve harassment and vandalism, there have also been assaults, with at least six fatalities since 2016, including at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.

CNN’s Tara John and Allegra Goodwin reported from London, and Paul P. Murphy reported from New York.

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