Man who allegedly sold gun to Texas synagogue hostage-taker arrested
Akram - who held four people hostage in a synagogue in Texas - allegedly told the seller that he intended to use the gun to intimidate someone who owed him money.
Police have arrested the man who they allege sold a gun to Malik Faisal Akram, who held a rabbi and three congregants hostage inside their Texas synagogue earlier this month.
Henry “Michael” Dwight Williams, 32, was, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release not aware of what Akram planned to do with the gun. Instead, Williams told law enforcement officials that Akram said he intended to use the gun to intimidate someone who owed him money.
Chad Meacham, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, on Tuesday charged Williams with being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the release. Williams made his first appearance in court on Wednesday.
Williams – who was previously convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted possession of a controlled substance – is not allowed to possess a firearm.
According to the release, law enforcement tracked Williams through mobile phone records.
Under interrogation, Williams admitted selling the Taurus G2C pistol to Akram at a Dallas intersection on Jan 13, two days before the 11-hour hostage crisis in Colleyville.
The crisis ended when Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker threw a chair at Akram and the hostages fled the building. FBI agents entered the Shul, and Akram died in the ensuing conflict.
Akram, a British Muslim, sought the release of a Pakistani Muslim woman who was serving 86 years at a prison near the synagogue for terrorism.
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