Boulder attack: eight injured in Colorado after man allegedly targets rally for Israeli hostages

Yahoo

2 days ago

Eight people were injured in an attack in Boulder, Colorado after a man is alleged to have thrown an incendiary device into a crowd and yelled 'Free Palestine', in what the FBI is treating as an 'act of terrorism'.
The 45-year-old man, identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is alleged to have thrown the device into a group of people who had assembled in a pedestrianised zone for a peaceful protest for Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
'It is clear that this is a targeted act of violence and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism,' Mark Michalek, an FBI special agent, told a press conference, citing witnesses.
Boulder police chief Stephen Redfearn had earlier refused to call the incident an act of terrorism, saying it was too early to speculate on the alleged attacker's motivations. He said the department received calls at about 1.26pm local time of a man with a weapon near a downtown courthouse and that people were being set on fire.
When police responded, they found people with injuries consistent with burns. A suspect was pointed out to officers and a man was taken into custody and then to the hospital with minor injuries.
Redfearn said the police were investigating 'a vehicle of interest' on the scene, and several blocks had been closed off. Police and bomb squads are still 'clearing the area for devices', he said.
Michalek said there was no evidence that the man was connected to a wider group.
The six people injured were between the ages of 67 and 88, police said, and their injuries ranged from minor to 'very serious'. Four were taken to a local hospital, while two had to be airlifted to a hospital in Aurora.
Brooke Coffman, a university student at the scene of the attack, said she saw four women on the ground with burns on their legs, Reuters reported. One of them appeared to have been badly burned on most of her body and had been wrapped in a flag by someone, she said.
The attack comes amid heightened tensions in the United States over Israel's war in Gaza, which has spurred both an increase in antisemitic hate crimes as well as efforts by conservative supporters of Israel to brand pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic. Donald Trump's administration has detained protesters of the war without charge and cut off funding to elite US universities that have permitted such demonstrations.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a statement that the victims were attacked 'simply because they were Jews' and that he trusted US authorities would prosecute 'the cold blood perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law'.
Colorado governor Jared Polis said that he is 'closely monitoring' the situation, adding: 'My thoughts go out to the people who have been injured and impacted by this heinous act of terror. Hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable.'
The Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a prominent Jewish Democrat, described the attack as 'horrifying'.
'We must stand up to antisemitism,' he said.
The attack follows the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington DC who had attended an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.
The crowd targeted in Boulder had gathered for an event called Run for Their Lives, a walk to show support for the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, according to a statement by the Boulder Jewish Community Centre. The group meets every Sunday to call for the hostages' release.
'Our hearts go out to those who witnessed this horrible attack, and prayers for a speedy recovery to those who were injured,' the statement reads.'When events like this enter our own community, we are shaken. Our hope is that we come together for one another.'
With Reuters