Audio: Colleyville hostage-taker told brother: ‘I’m opening the door ... to enter America’

Malik Faisal Akram, the hostage-taker who was killed by law enforcement following an 11-hour standoff after he seized a North Texas synagogue, told his brother that he was “setting a precedent.”

An audio recording, obtained by The Jewish Chronicle, captures a conversation between Akram and his brother Gulbar while Akram held a rabbi and three other men at gunpoint at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville.

“Why does Afghanistan always have to have a defensive war? Why can’t these sick (expletive) Taliban (expletive) enter America and have a (expletive) defensive war?” Akram asks his brother. “Why do we need these (expletive) to come into our country and do (expletive) battle and we can’t come into their country? They come to our (expletive) countries and rape our women and (expletive) our kids.”

The three-minute clip opens with Akram telling his brother back home in the United Kingdom that he’s “in America and thought I’d kiss my last goodbye to you.”

Akram continues to explain that he’s taken hostages inside a synagogue. When his brother asks why he’s doing that, Akram responds, “don’t worry about it,” before adding “I’ve come to die.”

The conversation escalates as the recording continues with Akram making reference to a brother who died and saying that he made him a promise that “I will go down as a martyr. I’ll let no (expletive) suppress me.”

He tells his brother that while talking to law enforcement negotiators he’s been demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui from a Fort Worth prison. Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, became the first female terrorism defendant arrested after 9/11, and she was convicted on charges related to the attempted murder and assault of United States officers and employees in Afghanistan in 2008.

“I’ve told them, ‘I’ll release these four guys, I’ll come on the yard, I’ll have a toe to toe with you. Shoot me dead. Shoot [Siddiqui] dead, because I’m dead, she’s dead, she [has] 84 years, right?” Akram says. “They’ve (expletive) framed her,” he says, before explaining that he’s called his brother to apologize for any wrongdoings and that he’s spoken with his children.

Akram adds that he’s prayed for two years “for this,” and that he’s going to die.

His brother tries to reason with him, telling Akram that Siddiqui would not be released because of his death, which quickly angers the 44-year-old hostage-taker. His brother continues to tell Akram “you don’t need to do this,” to think about his children and that the hostages are innocent.

“I’m opening the door for every youngster to enter America and (expletive) with them,” Akram responds. “I’m setting the precedent today. I’m setting the precedent so (expletive) you, they’re not going to get away with it anymore. Even if they don’t release Dr. Aafia, who gives a (expletive)? … But guess what? I’m opening the doors for every (expletive) youngster in England to know to live your (expletive) life. … We’re coming to (expletive) America.”

After a tirade about “opening the door … to America,” the hostage-taker quickly hangs up.

It’s believed the audio was recorded toward the end of the 11-hour standoff before three of the hostages escaped unharmed and an FBI team breached the synagogue and shot Akram, according to The Jewish Chronicle. The fourth hostage was released earlier in the evening, also unharmed.

The Chronicle reported the phone call with Akram’s 43-year-old brother remained ongoing for over 10 minutes.

“The media attention was unbearable for his elderly parents and the wider family, [Gulbar] added. But Akram responded by saying he was pleased with the attention he had attracted to the cause of Muslims who were, in his view, oppressed by the US,” the newspaper wrote.

Akram’s brother, Gulbar, spoke from a Blackburn, England, police station.