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Was Malik Faisal Akram mentally ill? Texas synagogue terrorist's struggles 'well known'

Akram, 44, had demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist with ties to Al Qaida who is serving an 86-year sentence in Texas

The British man who flew to the US, somehow acquired a gun and took hostages at a Texas synagogue, reportedly had an extensive history of mental health issues.

44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram from Blackburn was shot and killed after an 11-hour hostage standoff at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville on Saturday evening, January 15. All four hostages, fortunately, survived the ordeal and were released unharmed. US President Joe Biden declared the incident an act of terror on Sunday, January 16, while the British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that the UK government condemned “this act of terrorism and antisemitism", The Guardian reported.

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Akram's brother Gulbar, in a statement to Sky News, wondered how he was able to secure a visa to enter the US in the first place. “He’s known to police. Got a criminal record. How was he allowed to get a visa and acquire a gun?” he asked. Akram reportedly had a criminal record in the UK but no known terrorism convictions. British investigators believe he had no connection to Texas before he traveled there earlier this month. It also emerged that Akram had been the subject of a 2001 exclusion order banning him from Blackburn magistrates court after he made remarks about the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, saying he wished how a court usher would have been on one of the planes that flew into the buildings on that fateful day.

Akram was heard during the synagogue siege demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist with ties to al-Qaida who was convicted in 2010 of trying to kill American military officers while in custody in Afghanistan. Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence in a federal prison facility in Texas. The FBI asked British police to get Akram's family to talk him into surrendering as the siege on Saturday unfolded. The family spoke to Akram as he held hostages but was unable to convince him to give himself up to the authorities.

Speaking to The New York Times, Gulbar Akram said his brother was deeply troubled and had grown apart from his family in recent years. “It’s well known, everybody in the town knows, he has mental health issues,” he said. “How had he gotten into America? Why was he granted a visa? How did he land at JFK Airport and not get stopped for one second?” he questioned. Gulbar said his brother's mental health worsened when another sibling succumbed to Covid about three months ago. However, he noted that the late terrorist had long struggled with behavioral issues.

Speaking to The Guardian, a community source said that Akram was known to behave unusually, including in and around mosques in Lancashire. A neighbor of Akram's former family home described him as "a bit hotheaded" but otherwise a "generally unremarkable man" who had been trying to set up a property business at some point. “I never thought at all in my wildest dreams that this was ever going to happen," the neighbor said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, a taxi driver who had known Akram since childhood said he had recently lost his business and house. “He went through some bad issues, he must have lost a lot. But his mental health issues were genuine, we’ve known him for all of our life," he explained.