Colorado attack: Several injured, suspect yelled ‘Free Palestine', FBI probes ‘act of terrorism'
Several people suffered burns and other injuries on Sunday in the US state of Colorado in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) called a "targeted terror attack" against demonstrators seeking the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
1. Colorado authorities were quoted by Reuters as saying that there were six victims in the attack. They were taken o to local hospitals.
2. According to reports, the incident took place at the intersection of 13th Street and Pearl Street on Sunday afternoon (local time) — near a demonstration to remember the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza
It happened near a popular pedestrian mall in Boulder where demonstrators with a volunteer group called 'Run For Their Lives' had gathered to raise visibility for the hostages who remain in Gaza as a war between Israel and Hamas continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States.
3. Police said a male suspect was taken into custody on Sunday after the attack left multiple people with burns in Boulder, Colorado. Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said the man was apprehended following calls to police dispatch of someone with a weapon who was 'setting people on fire.'
4. In one video apparently of the attack, a shirtless man holding clear spray bottles in his hands is seen pacing as the grass in front of him burns. He can be heard screaming "End Zionists!", "Palestine is Free!" and "They are killers!" towards several people in red t-shirts as they tend to a person lying on the ground.
5. FBI leaders in Washington said they were treating the Boulder attack as an act of terrorism. 'This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts. We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it,' FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a post on X.
6. FBI Director Kash Patel immediately labeled it a 'targeted terrorist attack.' Meanwhile, the US Justice Department — which leads investigations into acts of violence driven by religious, racial or ethnic motivations — decried the attack as a "needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans."
7. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement that he was 'closely monitoring' the situation, adding that 'hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable.'
8. Multiple blocks of the pedestrian mall area were evacuated by police. The scene shortly after the attack was tense, as law enforcement agents with a police dog walked through the streets looking for threats and instructed the public to stay clear of the pedestrian mall.
According to ABC news, authorities have evacuated the area from Broadway to the west, Pine Street to the north and 16th Street to the east, and Walnut Street to the south and have been conducting the probe into the incident, as per the report.
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