An individual who was given a firearm by a man sentenced on Monday to almost eight years in prison for a federal firearms violation used it to hold hostages inside a Texas synagogue before the FBI shot and killed him.
The 33-year-old Henry “Michael” Dwight Williams was indicted in February after receiving a criminal complaint in January.
Chief Judge David Godbey of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas sentenced him to 95 months in federal prison after he admitted to being a felon in possession of a firearm in June.
“This defendant, a convicted felon, had no business carrying—much less buying and selling—firearms. Whether he suspected his buyer would use the gun to menace a community of faith is legally irrelevant: In the U.S., convicted felons cannot possess firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham.
On January 15, during a Shabbat service at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, Malik Akram, a 44-year-old British Pakistani man carrying a gun, kidnapped four individuals.
Akram called for the release of Pakistani national and alleged al-Qaeda member Aafia Siddiqui, who is now being held in nearby Fort Worth for attempted murder and other offenses.
After six hours, Akram freed one captive; three more hostages escaped after 11 hours of the confrontation. Once inside the synagogue, FBI agents assassinated Akram.
JOIN US ON WHAT'SAPP, TO GET INSTANT STATUS UPDATES AND BE IN THE KNOW.
CLICK HERE
