Colorado rabbi, other community leaders deliver strong messages in response to Boulder attack: "Emotional scars will never fully heal"
Gov. Jared Polis along with other political and faith leaders held a vigil in Boulder Wednesday morning at the site of Sunday's attack on the Pearl Street Mall in which a suspect hurled Molotov cocktails at a march for Israeli hostages.
Rabbi Marc Soloway
CBS
"This was a brutal, hateful, antisemitic terrorist attack against peaceful Jews in Boulder, Colorado in 2025," said Rabbi Marc Soloway, who leads a Boulder Synagogue that many of the victims attend. "We are really hurting. We are really angry and really sad."
Soloway began the vigil with a strong message to a large audience gathered on Pearl Street.
"The physical and emotional scars of this will never fully heal," Soloway added.
Gov. Jared Polis, Colorado's first Jewish governor, followed with equal passion and a proclamation of unity.
"We have Republicans and Democrats standing together against hate and antisemitism here in Boulder and in Colorado," said Polis. "This heinous terror attack struck just hours before the start of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, and of course, less than two weeks on the heels of the targeted antisemitic killings at the capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, and as the scourge of anti-Jewish and antisemitic rhetoric and sadly, violence continues to rear its ugly head, we want to say enough hate. Antisemitism, terrorism and violence have no place in Colorado and no place in the United States of America."
Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett speaks during a community gathering at the site of an attack against a group people holding a vigil for kidnapped Israeli citizens in Gaza oin Boulder, Colorado on June 4, 2025.
CHET STRANGE/AFP via Getty Images
But perhaps the most chilling comments came from Ed Victor who was a part of the "Run For Your Lives" group that was targeted on Sunday, and recalled grabbing anything he could find to put out the flames on nearby burning bodies.
"I'll tell you, when someone is on fire, it takes too long to put them out," said Victor. "What do we have to put them out? You look around you like there's some flags. We have a banner. You do what you can. It was myself, two, three other people, doing what we could."
As people begin to look forward to heal, there was an overwhelming message of the need for change.
"Governor Polis reminded us that hate has no place in Colorado and no place here in Boulder," said Boulder JCC Executive Director Jonathan Lev. "Declarations are only as strong as the actions that follow them when we leave this event. My hope is that each of you leaves with a renewed sense of purpose and accepts the responsibility of ending hate and helping us heal."
The Boulder JCC hosted a vigil for community members Wednesday night and will host the Boulder Jewish Festival on Sunday, returning to the site of the attack.
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