Intelligence Failures Allowed Texas Terrorist into USA

British MPs and family members of the Texas hostage-taker have been asking how he was allowed into the USA, given that he had a criminal record and was known to hold radical Islamist views.

Malik Faisal Akram, originally from Blackburn, Lancashire, had been banned from Blackburn Magistrates’ Court in 2001, after a series of incidents in which he abused staff there, making threatening remarks about the 9/11 attacks. He was also reported to have had criminal convictions and a long history of mental health issues.

Akram’s younger brother Gulbar spoke to Sky News after the news that his brother had been killed in Texas, asking, “He’s known to police. Got a criminal record. How was he allowed to get a visa and acquire a gun?” He additionally said that his brother was mentally ill and that he and the rest of the family were mourning the death of another brother some three months ago.

Gulbar Akram issued a statement on Sunday evening, on behalf of the family, confirming his brother’s identity as the attacker and saying that they had been involved in the negotiations to bring the hostage situation to a close. He said, “Sitting in the incident room all last night at Greenbank [the local police station] until the early hours liaising with Faisal, the negotiators, FBI, etc.”

He apologised on behalf of the family “to all the victims involved in the unfortunate incident” and said that “any attack on any human being be it a Jew, Christian or Muslim etc is wrong and should always be condemned.”

Conservative MP Bob Seely told MailOnline, “This is clearly a failure of intelligence sharing. It is absolutely dreadful that he has been allowed to go to the States and hurt people. Clearly something has gone wrong somewhere.”

These sentiments were echoed by other MPs with knowledge of security issues.

Reporters from the Manchester Evening News spoke to Akram’s former neighbours in Blackburn, who described him as bad-tempered and “very rude”. One said, “I’m not surprised at what has happened. He was a nasty man and was always falling out with people.”

On Sunday evening, two teenagers were arrested in South Manchester by officers from Counter Terror Policing North West and are being held in custody for questioning. Assistant Chief Constable Dominic Scally issued a statement on Sunday evening, in which he said that his department is “assisting with the investigation being led by the US Authorities.”

He continued, “Police forces in the region will continue to liaise with their local communities, including the Jewish community, and will put in place any necessary measures to provide reassurance to them.”

The Counter Terrorism Policing HQ sent out a statement to be distributed to the Jewish community, reassuring them and urging people to report any issues of concern to the police or the Community Security Trust (CST), an organization that monitors antisemitism and arranges security for Jewish institutions in the UK.

CST issued their own statement in which they said, “The attack in Colleyville is another reminder of exactly why CST does its job: our security operations are already at a high level to address the terrorist threat to the Jewish community, which we know exists and has done for many years. Such attacks can occur anywhere in our diverse communities and it is vital that the people inside every Jewish school, synagogue and other communal buildings around the country follow all security guidelines and assist with security wherever possible.

“We have been in discussions with senior counter-terrorist police since the attack and are grateful for their support. We are also in close contact with our counterparts in the United States, to assist them in any way we can.”