UPDATE: Aafia Siddiqui's biological brother, Muhammad, is not the person holding hostages inside the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, his lawyer has told The Daily Beast
COLLEYVILLE, Texas—A hostage situation was ongoing at a synagogue outside of Dallas on Saturday afternoon involving a man who ranted about Islam and made demands to release a convicted terrorist—all while being captured on a Facebook livestream.
Nearby residents were evacuated from the surrounding area as police surrounded the building, with little to no information available on what was happening inside. Citing law enforcement sources, NBC News and ABC News reported that the sister is Aafia Siddiqui, 49, who was convicted in New York of trying to assassinate U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. She is serving an 86-year prison sentence at a federal facility in Fort Worth.However, a lawyer who previously represented Siddiqui’s biological brother told The Daily Beast that he is not the person inside the synagogue.
Throughout the Facebook livestream, the man could be heard making multiple references to Islam in between vague, expletive-laden rants. He said he liked the synagogue’s rabbi and appreciated being let into the building. But he threatened that any police officer who tried to apprehend him would be shot. He claimed to have been carrying a bag around for 16 hours containing weapons.
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