A special task force police officer rescues a hostage from a Jewish chapel in Colleyville, Texas, where the hostage took place on the 15th. Collieville = Associated Press
A gunman took four people hostage, including a priest, at a Jewish chapel in Texas, USA. In the process of confrontation with the police, the suspect died and the hostages were released safely, ending the 11-hour hostage play.
According to foreign media such as CNN on the 15th (local time), the incident started around 10:41 am on the 15th (local time) when a man broke into the Jewish chapel in Colliville, where he was worshiping on the Sabbath. He held four people, including a rabbi, hostage, and as reports were received that a bomb had been installed in the synagogue, about 200 agents of the Police Special Task Force (SWAT) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were dispatched to the scene.
After about 7 hours of negotiations, at 5 pm, one hostage was released first. Around 9:30 pm, the other three were rescued and the 11-hour hostage play ended. Colliville Police Chief Michael Miller said: “They entered the synagogue to rescue the remaining hostages, and in the process, a gunfire broke out and the suspect was killed.”
The investigation is still ongoing, but for now, this case is not an organized crime by a terrorist group, but an individual deviance. Foreign media reported that the hostage-taker had demanded the release of Apia Sidiki, an elite Pakistani scientist known as ‘Lady al-Qaeda’. CDiki was caught in Afghanistan for having a piece of paper with plans for the 2008 New York and other terrorist attacks. In 2010, he was sentenced to 86 years in prison by a U.S. District Court in New York for attempted murder, including attempted murder of an American, including an American officer stationed in Afghanistan.
Protests demand the release of Afia Sidiki (pictured on a banner), a female scientist imprisoned in the United States, in Karachi, southern Pakistan, in March 2011. It is known that a man who took hostage at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas on the 15th, demanded the release of Sidiki. Karachi = AP Yonhap News
US authorities did not disclose the identity and information of the hostage-taker. Once at the scene of the incident, believers testified that the assailant called CD-Ki ‘sister’ and asked for a phone call. NBC News also reported that the suspect was Sidiki’s brother Mohammad Sidiki. However, the Texas State Council on Islamic Relations denied that Mohammad was involved in the incident. Sidiki’s lawyers also emphasized that Mohammad lives in Houston, 480 kilometers away.
Some argue that the incident reveals deep-rooted anti-Semitic sentiment in the United States. It is an anti-Semitic crime targeting the Jewish community. Jonathan Greenblatt, president of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the largest Jewish group in the United States, said: “We need to investigate what role it played in granting the . Authorities in major metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas have deployed police officers and strengthened patrols in synagogues and Jewish facilities after the hostage incident.
On the other hand, the investigative authorities drew a line on the allegations of hatred of Jews. Matt DeSarno, a special agent at the FBI’s Dallas field office, said the suspect was “focused on one issue (the release of Sidiki) and had nothing to do with the Jewish community.”
There were even claims that it was a preview of a future terrorist movement in the Middle East. Stephen Stalinsky, secretary general of the Middle East Media Research Institute in Washington, U.S., told the Washington Post, “This incident is an opportunity to energize jihad and terrorist groups, which did not gain much power after the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist militant group, came to power. will be,” he predicted.
Heo Kyung-ju reporter fairyhkj@hankookilbo.com
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