BREAKING NEWS FBI issues urgent warning about 'elevated threat' to Jewish communities following Colorado attack

Daily Mail​

15 hours ago

Security officials have issued an urgent warning about the 'elevated threat' to Jewish communities nationwide following two recent antisemitic attacks.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the public service announcement, warning people to stay vigilant as the ongoing violence in Gaza may 'motivate' further attacks.
Officials cited two recent threats at the basis for the warning: the May shooting at the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington DC, and the recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado.
'The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict may motivate other violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators with similar grievances to conduct violence against Jewish and Israeli communities and their supporters,' the release stated.
'Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States.
'The FBI and DHS therefore urge the public to remain vigilant and to report any threats of violence or suspicious activity to law enforcement.'
The warning comes after 12 people were injured in Boulder during a vigil for the Jewish hostages still held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
The group was carrying out a weekly silent walk in solidarity with the hostages as it has done ever since the October 7 attack.
But the peaceful protest quickly descended into chaos when 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman allegedly launched a violent attack on a group of about 30 demonstrators, using a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to set eight victims on fire.
The attack left twelve people injured, among them an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor.
Soliman's wife and five children were taken into custody by agents with ICE and Homeland Security just two days later.
Soliman arrived in the United States from Egypt in August 2022, but overstayed his initial tourist visa and was ultimately handed a two-year work permit by the Biden administration, which he also overstayed, as reported by Fox News.
The family was expected to be processed for expedited removal, which would allow authorities to rapidly deport them without a hearing in an immigration court.
Authorities said they found 16 unused Molotov cocktails when they arrested Soliman, adding that he only threw two of the devices because 'he was scared and had never hurt anyone before'.
Agents also recovered a journal from Soliman's home in which he detailed his plans for the attack, and said he wanted to 'kill all Zionists', according to an affidavit on his arrest.
The document also revealed that Soliman plotted the firebombing for over a year, but waited until after his daughter's graduation to conduct the attack.
He is now facing 16 counts of attempted murder and federal hate crime charges.
The Colorado attack came just over a week after a man was arrested over the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, on May 22.
The victims were identified as German-Israeli dual national Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and his girlfriend Sarah Milgrim, 26.
The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, repeatedly shouted 'Free Palestine' after shooting them dead - all while police dragged him away.
The couple, who were set to get engaged just a week from their deaths, had attended a Young Diplomats event before they were shot that night.
In the moments before the deadly shooting, Rodriguez was reportedly seen pacing back and forth before allegedly opening fire on a group of four people standing outside the museum.
Jewish human rights organization the Simon Wiesenthal Center told Daily Mail the Boulder attack came on the first day of a religious holiday.
He blamed the attack, as well as the murders of the Israeli embassy staffers, on 'months of anti-Israel propaganda, moral equivocation, and silence in the face of raging antisemitism'.
'The nonstop demonization of Israel and Zionism on our campuses, in our streets, and across digital platforms has created a climate where hate flourishes, and physical attacks—even murder—of Jews is inevitable,' Berk said.
Rodriguez had reportedly entered the building and was offered both water and comfort by attendees, who assumed he was a victim of the shooting.
According to a witness, after spending about 15 minutes inside the museum in an apparent state of shock, he asked someone to call police and confessed. He was then taken into custody.
Rodriguez was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with the murder of foreign officials, causing death through the use of a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, according to the United States Attorney's Office.