14:37
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker was among the four people who were taken hostage by an armed man last month at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas.
The Guardian’s Edward Helmore reports:
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker told CBS he initially welcomed the stranger, who had been staying in a Dallas homeless shelter, and made him a cup of tea. He said the man was not threatening or suspicious at first.
‘Some of his story didn’t quite add up, so I was a little bit curious, but that’s not necessarily an uncommon thing,’ the rabbi said. Cytron-Walker said he invited Akram to join the morning service.
As he turned his back to face the direction of Jerusalem, he heard the click of a gun.
The hostage crisis ended 11 hours later, and luckily Cytron-Walker and the other three people at the synagogue survived the attack.
14:23
Rabbis to testify at House hearing on security concerns at synagogues
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
Two House subcommittees will hold a hearing today on security concerns at synagogues, following a series of antisemitic attacks at the houses of worship.
Among those testifying at the hearing will be two rabbis: Charlie Cytron-Walker, of the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, and Yosef Konikov, of Chabad of South Orlando in Florida.
The hearing comes one month after a man took four worshippers hostage at Cytron-Walker’s synagogue in Texas. All four hostages luckily survived the attack, which renewed fears over the rise of antisemitism in the US.
Joe Biden described the hostage crisis as “an act of terror,” saying his administration is committed to combating antisemitic attacks.
“I wanted to make sure we got the word out to synagogues and places of worship that we’re not going to tolerate this, that we have this capacity to deal with the assaults on particularly the antisemitism that has grown up,” Biden said.
“We are focused. The attorney general is focused. I’m making sure that we deal with these kinds of acts.”
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.