The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) behaved in an absurd way after a horrific event occurred over the weekend as the Jewish Sabbath was celebrated at a Texas synagogue. The bureau went out of its way to ignore the fact that a hostage situation was unambiguously anti-Semitic.
The FBI referred to a man who held hostages at a synagogue for over 10 hours on Saturday, a “shooting incident.” The man was demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui from prison. Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist with ties to terror group al Qaeda, is in federal prison in Texas for trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan.
The Associated Press, also under fire for its reporting of the FBI’s messaging, tweeted of the hostage situation: “BREAKING: The FBI says the Texas synagogue hostage taker’s demands were specifically focused on issue not connected to the Jewish community.”
The FBI made the announcement after hostages had endured a ten-hour-long nightmare, ending in law enforcement shooting and killing the hostage-taker who took members of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue hostage Saturday. The Associated Press reported on FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno:
“DeSarno said the hostage-taker was specifically focused on an issue not directly connected to the Jewish community and there was no immediate indication that the man had was part of any broader plan, but DeSarno said the agency’s investigation ‘will have global reach.”
Reporter Joel Petlin is one of many that pointed out the abysmal rhetoric: “A Muslim terrorist travels to a Synagogue on the Sabbath and takes a Rabbi and three other Jews hostage, while demanding the release of a convicted Antisemitic terrorist. Sorry @AP but I’m pretty sure that it’s DIRECTLY connected to the Jewish community.”
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported, “an angry man could be heard ranting and talking about religion at times during the Livestream, which didn’t show what was happening inside the synagogue.”
Blaze Media reports that individuals “abruptly fact-checked the AP’s tweet. In fact, despite attempts to downplay the religious aspect of the incident, the hostage-taker chose a synagogue on Sabbath where Jews were gathered and he allegedly demanded the release of a convicted terrorist known for being an adamant anti-Semite.”
AP reported that “multiple people heard the hostage-taker refer to Siddiqui as his ‘sister’ on the Livestream, but Faizan Syed, the executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations in Dallas Fort-Worth Texas, told The Associated Press that Siddiqui’s brother, Mohammad Siddiqui, was not involved.”
So yes; this appears to very much have ties to the “Jewish community” as well as “global reach.” Thankfully all hostages are safe.