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Attacks on houses of worship like the 2017 Sutherland Springs shooting have prompted many religious groups to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours to bolster security.
The assailant in the Texas synagogue hostage standoff demanded release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of ties to al-Qaida.
The FBI was more emphatic on Friday that last weekend’s act of terrorism at a Colleyville synagogue was also a hate crime. They said no other people have been arrested locally, though they think they know everyone he’d been around. However, they still don’t know how Akram got the gun he used to take the synagogue members hostage.
Nearly a week after Malik Faisal Akram terrorized the rabbi and three members of Congregation Beth Israel, investigators are still examining where he slept, how he moved around and with whom he associated during his 18 days in the United States.
The FBI on Friday said it is investigating the Colleyville hostage situation at a synagogue as a "hate crime" and "act of terrorism."