[1] During the initial attack and takeover of the buildings, the assailants killed a journalist and mortally wounded a police officer; three others, including a city councilor, were injured.

[2] They had several demands, including that the government hand over the killers of Khaalis' family and Malcolm X to them,[3] as well as that the premiere of Mohammad, Messenger of God be canceled,[3] and the film destroyed, because they considered it sacrilegious.

[4] Time magazine noted: That the toll was not higher was in part a tribute to the primary tactic U.S. law enforcement officials are now using to thwart terrorists—patience.

But most of all, perhaps, it was due to the courageous intervention of three Muslim ambassadors, Egypt's Ashraf Ghorbal, Pakistan's Sahabzada Yaqub-Khan and Iran's Ardeshir Zahedi.

Discharged from the U.S. Army on grounds of mental instability, he worked as a jazz drummer in New York City before converting to Islam and changing his name to Hamaas Khaalis.

[5] When an elevator opened, the hostage-takers thought they were under attack and fired, killing Maurice Williams, a reporter for WHUR-FM radio,[4] and mortally wounding D.C.

Protective Services Division Police Officer Mack Cantrell, who died in the hospital a few days later of a heart attack.

Then-councilman and future four-term D.C. mayor Marion Barry walked into the hallway after hearing a commotion and was struck by a ricocheting shotgun pellet, which lodged just above his heart.

Over the course of the siege, Khaalis "denounced the Jewish judge who had presided at the trial of his family's killers", repeatedly alleging that "the Jews control the courts and the press".

[3] They also wanted to receive visits from Muslim leader Warith Deen Mohammed and champion boxer Muhammad Ali, long an active Nation of Islam supporter.

Khaalis also demanded that he be refunded $750 in legal fees caused by a contempt of court citation issued in response to shouting at one of the defendants on trial for murdering his family members.

[10] L. Douglas Heck and Rudy Giuliani had organized a team within the United States Department of Justice aimed at "combating terrorism".

Although they claimed that DC police would handle the attacks, they soon brought in two intelligence operatives, Steve Pieczenik and Robert Blum.

[3] On the evening of the following day, after a number of phone calls, the three ambassadors and some Washington, D.C., officials—including MPDC commander Joseph O'Brien, who had investigated the murder of Khaalis' children and was trusted by Khaalis—met with the Hanafis.

Khaalis prayed and had a vision of his mentor, a Bengali mystic named Tasibur Uddein Rahman who had died ten years prior.

Tasked with finding food, he noticed that the bologna sandwiches provided by a nearby hotel were not kosher and would therefore be unacceptable to a number of the Jewish hostages.