The man who took hostages at a Texas synagogue tried to buy drugs and a “machine gun” before the standoff last month that ended with the hostages escaping and the gunman’s death, according to a report by the Associated Press (AP).
The AP, citing court testimony by an FBI agent Wednesday, said that Malik Faisal Akram approached a Dallas area man seeking to buy methamphetamines and “a machine gun or a weapon that contains a large number of bullets.”
The agent was testifying during a detention hearing for Henry “Michael” Williams, a convicted felon who sold Akram a stolen handgun ahead of the standoff. Williams is charged with being a felon in possession of a handgun.
Akram lied to the seller about his intentions, saying that he wanted the gun for intimidation to help settle a debt. He ended up using it to hold hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel in the suburb of Colleyville.
Federal agents fatally shot Akram at the synagogue. The 44-year-old British citizen had only recently arrived in the United States. He had previously been flagged by the British security service MI5 as a potential terrorism threat, but British agents had closed their investigation, allowing him to enter the United States legally, according to UK press reports.
During the standoff Akram was heard demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in nearby Fort Worth, Texas, over attempts to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
The case raises questions about how easy it might be for a terror suspect to obtain a firearm in Texas. Although Akram had been cleared by MI5, even if he had remained on a terror watchlist he might have been able to purchase a weapon in the state.
Under Texas law, licensed gun dealers are required to conduct an FBI background check, which can flag whether a purchaser is a felon or known terrorist. However, private sales are not subject to this requirement.
FBI agents arrested Williams, the gun dealer, about two weeks after the synagogue standoff. Prosecutors say that Williams had brokered 10 to 15 other gun sales despite past felony convictions.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misrepresented the state’s ‘constitutional carry’ law, saying it would allow a known terrorist to purchase a weapon. However, the law did not change the background check requirement at licensed dealerships.
