2022 Colleyville Synagogue Hostage Crisis

On the morning of January 15, 2022, Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen from Blackburn, Lancashire, entered Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform Jewish synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, during a Sabbath service. Posing as a homeless man seeking shelter, he was welcomed inside by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who offered him tea. During prayer, Akram produced a pistol and began taking hostages, ultimately holding four people captive, including Cytron-Walker and Jeffrey R Cohen, vice president of the synagogue's board of trustees. Cohen managed to secretly call 9-1-1 as he was taken hostage.

Akram had entered the United States from the UK on December 27, 2021, staying at homeless shelters in Dallas before allegedly purchasing a handgun on the street. His movements in the days immediately before the incident were unclear. Once inside the synagogue, he demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national serving an 86-year federal sentence in nearby Fort Worth for attempted murder and other crimes related to a 2008 incident in Afghanistan. Akram referred to Siddiqui as his "sister" and said he believed she had been framed. During the standoff, he made antisemitic statements, falsely claimed to have a bomb, and threatened to kill the hostages, while also stating at one point that he did not want to hurt them.

More than 200 local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel responded, including FBI hostage negotiators and rescue operatives. One hostage was released unharmed after about six hours. As the standoff neared its tenth hour, Cytron-Walker, Cohen, and the remaining hostage recognized that Akram was out of position; Cytron-Walker threw a chair at Akram and the three fled to safety, with no shots fired during the escape. Shortly afterward, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team used a stun grenade and breached the building, fatally shooting Akram. All hostages were confirmed safe roughly 11 hours after the crisis began. No explosives were found inside the synagogue.

The FBI's North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force led the investigation. After initial statements were criticized for downplaying antisemitism, the FBI stated on January 17 that the incident was "a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted," and by January 21 was investigating it as a federal hate crime and act of terrorism. The FBI assessed that Akram acted alone. In the United Kingdom, several individuals connected to Akram, including his two teenage sons, were arrested and later released without charge. In Texas, a 32-year-old man was arrested on a firearm-possession charge in connection with the sale of the handgun used in the incident.

President Joe Biden and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss both condemned the incident as an act of antisemitic terror. Jewish organizations reported the incident had shaken communities in the U.S. and abroad, while Muslim community leaders, including in Akram's hometown of Blackburn, condemned his actions and expressed solidarity with the synagogue. The Anti-Defamation League documented subsequent conspiracy theories and antisemitic and Islamophobic reactions to the crisis.