Texas synagogue attack: Kamala Harris says stand in solidarity with entire Jewish community

The US stands in solidarity with the Congregation Beth Israel community and the entire Jewish community on the hostage incident at Texas synagogue, said US Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday. "This morning, we are grateful that four people held hostage in a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas are safe and going home to their families," Harris said in a statement on Sunday.

 Harris thanked the "brave men and women" in federal, state, and local law enforcement and said, "We stand in solidarity with the Congregation Beth Israel community and the entire Jewish community". "While we will learn more about the hostage taker's motivation, we know this: what happened yesterday at Congregation Beth Israel is a reminder that we must speak up and combat antisemitism and hate wherever it exists," Harris said

"Everyone has a right to pray, work, study, and spend time with loved ones not as the other - but as us," she added. At least four people were taken hostages by a man at a synagogue in the town of Colleyville for more than ten hours on Saturday. A live stream of the Shabbat morning service at the synagogue on Facebook captured audio of a man talking loudly when the incident started. 

According to the law enforcement officials, the hostage-taker demanded the release of the Pakistani scientist Aafia Siddiqui, who was convicted of trying to kill US military officers while in custody in Afghanistan. Siddiqui is currently being held at FMC Carswell, a federal prison in Fort Worth Texas. However, the suspect who took hostages, demanding the release of a Pakistan scientist convicted of trying to kill US military officers while in custody in Afghanistan, has been killed.