Posted on January 20, 2022
On The Synagogue Hostage Situation
I just finished an interview with a journalist for my thoughts on the recent hostage situation that occurred at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, near Fort Worth. While no one was shot or killed besides Pakistani-Brit, 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram, the fact he had a gun has given the left a rally cry once again to attack gun rights and demand more legislation. The fact is that we had plenty of legislation that should have stopped him.
Within hours of Akram being identified, the British government had detained two individuals suspected of being involved in the plot. Akram was from an industrial city in northwest England called Blackburn. His family said he was “suffering from mental health issues.” He entered the United States on a tourist visa about two weeks earlier and spent time in Dallas-area homeless shelters before the temple attack. In just two weeks, Akram either purchased or was given a firearm, despite being essentially homeless for two weeks. He had help. I’ve lived in this country my whole life and if I wanted to buy a gun on the black market, even I don’t know where to go, but Akram was able to acquire one within two weeks of arrival. He said he had been praying about and planning the event for two years.
British media have reported that Akram was investigated by MI5 as a possible “terrorist threat” in 2020, but authorities concluded that he posed no danger, and the investigation was closed. Allegedly, our government did the same thing and concluded that it “did not have any derogatory information” on Akram. However, he was convicted of theft and harassment in 2012. On September 12, 2001, Akram was banned from the Blackburn courts after he was accused of remarking to Lancashire court ushers, “You should have been on the fucking plane,” according to a letter written by Peter Wells, the deputy justice clerk, to the Lancashire magistrates’ committee.
This was a failure of government, not gun laws. Akram was not qualified to have a gun since he was only here on a tourist visa. There are laws against providing guns to prohibited persons, yet he got one. This wasn’t a “private sale” as the media keeps reporting it in order to push for more restrictions on gun rights and more restrictive laws like “universal background checks,” as if whoever gave Akram the gun would have done so if such a law were in place. This was a criminal sale, not a private sale. The transfer was likely pre-planned before he even got to Texas – assuming that is where he acquired it.
So, what could have stopped this? What laws do we need to ensure this doesn’t happen again? Nothing. Current laws need to be enforced, including immigration laws. It makes no sense to crack down on gun sales in America while our borders are wide open and guns can flow in unimpeded. The only way to prevent these is by becoming a hard target.
The Congregation Beth Israel synagogue is a “gun-free zone.” The rabbi, Charlie Cytron-Walker, bans guns in his building. Additionally, Cytron-Walker has written and given sermons and speeches pushing for more gun control. Yet, he had the ultimate gun control at his synagogue and it didn’t help anyone.
The fact is that criminals don’t care about laws or signs. The only people that obey them – and are victimized by them – are law abiding, peaceable citizens who are left defenseless. It was sad to hear that the rabbi coordinated with the FBI for training on how to…run away and hide in the event of a shooting or threat when they could have had self-defense training that was more helpful. However, Rabbi Cytron-Walker is a leftwing ideologue and anti-gun zealot. He has called Israel an “apartheid state” despite the fact that anyone can live there, including Muslims. In an email he sent out a few years ago, he included some ways to help push gun control:
Take Action and End Gun Violence with NFTY in 4 different ways:
1. Join over a dozen cities organizing mayor visits
2. Incorporate gun violence awareness into Shabbat on June 3
3. Contact your members of Congress
4. Wear Orange on June 2 and share on your favorite social media platform
The “wear orange on June 2” is a campaign created and pushed by anti-gun socialists Moms Demand Action. Now, none of this is to say that what happened was in any way the rabbi’s fault. The only person to blame is Akrom. Not guns, not legislators, not Republicans, and not Jews. Just Akrom. However, there were things that he could have done that would have either ensured Akrom never targeted them or that it would have ended quicker. This includes allowing – at a minimum – licensed gun owners to carry concealed. Churches are not safe spaces where a magic forcefield protects people from bad actors. It’s time everyone understood this.