Boulder, Colorado attack: What we know, who are the suspect and victims?

Al Jazeera

3 days ago

Eight people were injured in an attack on Sunday on a group of people in the United States city of Boulder, Colorado, who were campaigning for the release of captives held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.
Police arrested a man who allegedly threw incendiary devices towards people. The FBI said it was investigating the attack as an 'act of terror'.
In a social media post, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the attack as an anti-Semitic act.
Here is what we know so far:
A group of people were walking in a 'regularly scheduled, weekly peaceful event' aimed at galvanising support for the release of captives held in Gaza when they were attacked, according to an official news release shared by the Boulder Police Department. The police were called at 1:36pm (10:36 GMT).
The news release said that witnesses saw the attacker using a makeshift flamethrower as he lobbed incendiary devices – meant to start fires – at the gathering.
Witness videos circulating on social media showed a shirtless man appearing to hold two glass bottles, which looked like Molotov cocktails.
A Molotov cocktail is a very simple incendiary weapon. It comprises a bottle filled with a flammable liquid covered by a wick, which is lit on fire before the bottle is thrown at a target.
They are named after Vyacheslav Molotov, the foreign minister of the Soviet Union during World War II. In 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, and the country experienced heavy bombing. Molotov insisted that the Soviet Union was not dropping bombs, only food parcels.
In response, the Finns threw handmade explosives towards Soviet tanks, sarcastically dubbing them 'Molotov cocktails'.
The attack took place at the outdoor Pearl Street Mall, a pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder that stretches four blocks. It is home to retail stores, art galleries and restaurants. The mall is a two-minute drive, or 1.1km (0.7 miles), from the University of Colorado, Boulder.Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser released a statement on Sunday, saying that the attack was 'against a group that meets weekly on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall to call for the release of the hostages in Gaza'.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a nonprofit focused on combating anti-Semitism – which was accused of double standards in January for defending a salute made by billionaire Elon Musk at an inauguration rally for US President Donald Trump – released a statement saying the event was part of an international campaign called 'Run for Their Lives'.
The campaign involves weekly gatherings worldwide where Jewish community members run and walk in solidarity with the captives taken by Hamas and other Palestinian groups during their attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Run for Their Lives gatherings take place in 230 locations in 24 countries, including Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Spain. Groups in multiple US states participate in this event and there are two locations in Colorado: one in Boulder and the other one in Denver's Washington Park.
Armed Palestinian groups took about 251 captives from Israel on October 7. While some captives were returned in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, or rescued, others have died in captivity. Some 59 captives are believed to remain in captivity, and Israel believes that 35 of them have died.
Since October 7, Israeli military bombardment and other attacks have killed more than 61,700 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.
The Boulder attack suspect has been identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old man from El Paso County, according to the Boulder Police news release.
Soliman was also injured in the attack, though the nature of his injuries is unclear.
The release says that Soliman was medically evaluated at a hospital and then was booked in the Boulder County Jail for multiple charges. The release did not specify what exactly these charges were.
According to the news release, Soliman yelled, 'Free Palestine' during the attack.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, claimed in a post on X that the Boulder attack was carried out by an 'illegal alien'.
Without naming Soliman, Miller said the suspect had overstayed a tourist visa granted to him by the government of former US President Joe Biden. 'In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit. Suicidal migration must be fully reversed,' Miller wrote.
Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify Soliman's immigration status in the US.
Law enforcement officials said that eight people were injured. These include four women and four men, aged between 52 and 88.
The victims were taken to hospitals in the Denver metropolitan area.
The Boulder Police Department called the FBI within minutes of the attack, the news release said. The FBI is investigating this as a terror attack.
'This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts,' FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino wrote in an X post. 'We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it.'
FBI Director Kash Patel also wrote in an X post that his team was investigating the 'targeted terror attack' and that FBI agents and law enforcement were at the scene already.
Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, wrote in an X post that the department was working on the situation with its 'interagency partners', including the FBI.
According to an update by the Boulder Police Department on X on Monday at 05:53 GMT, all roads in downtown Boulder have been reopened except for a block on Pearl Street, 'which should be reopened in the next few hours'.
'We will continue to ensure that justice is pursued swiftly, support is provided to victims and their communities and preventative action is taken to protect everyone's safety,' FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek was quoted saying in the Boulder Police news release.
Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn acknowledged that many residents were scared, and had questions about the attack. 'Boulder has recovered from acts of violence before and we will again recover. I urge this community to come together. Now is not the time to be divisive,' he was quoted saying in the same news release.
Israeli Foreign Minister Saar wrote on X on Monday: 'Shocked by the terrible antisemitic terror attack targeting Jews in Boulder, Colorado. This is pure Antisemitism, fueled by the blood libels spread in the media.' He did not elaborate on what he meant by this.
US Senate Democratic Party Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X: 'Tonight, a peaceful demonstration was targeted in a vile, antisemitic act of terror. Once again, Jews are left reeling from repeated acts of violence and terror.'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X on Sunday: 'We're united in prayer for the victims of a targeted terror attack this afternoon in Boulder.'Many Democrats have released online statements condemning the attack and describing it as anti-Semitic.Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, wrote on X: 'My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and the Jewish community that once again appears to have been targeted with hate. We all have a responsibility to stop these antisemitic acts.'House Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, released a statement on X, saying: 'Our heartfelt prayers are with all of our Jewish brothers and sisters impacted by this unconscionable act of terror, and we thank law enforcement for their swift response. Antisemitism has no place in our nation or anywhere throughout the world. It must be crushed. We stand with the Jewish community today and always.'On May 22, a man named Elias Rodriguez was charged after fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staff workers in Washington, DC. He was charged with murdering foreign officials, causing death with a firearm and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence.