Eight people at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza were injured on Sunday by a man police say attacked a crowd with makeshift incendiary devices and a flamethrower.
The suspect, identified by the FBI as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was arrested at the scene and FBI Director Kash Patel has described the incident as a terror attack. The Department of Justice decried the Pearl Street Mall attack as a “needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans.”
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Special Agent of the FBI’s Denver field office, Mark Michaelik, said in a press conference on Sunday evening: “Attacks like this are becoming too common across the country, this is an example of how perpetrators of violence continue to threaten communities.”
In a statement, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said that the attack “appears to be a hate crime given the group that was targeted” and that the group was conducting one of its weekly meets.
Who is the suspected attacker?
CBS reported that Soliman is an Egyptian national who arrived in the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa to California in 2022. According to CBS, the visa expired in February 2023, and Soliman has recently been living in Colorado Springs.
According to the FBI’s Michaelik, Soliman shouted “Free Palestine” during the attack.
According to the Associated Press, video from the scene showed Soliman holding two clear bottles with transparent liquid while he shouted at onlookers, and another video shows a witness shouting, “He’s right there. He’s throwing Molotov cocktails,” as an armed police officer approaches him.
Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said that the attack took place around 1:30 p.m. local time, and that Soliman was taken to hospital with minor injuries. Authorities also said that they are confident that the suspect acted alone in the attack.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said on its daily booking sheet on Monday that Soliman was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, NBC News reported. But authorities have not confirmed if anyone has died as a result of the attack.
Who are the victims?
Four men and four women are so far said to have been injured in the attack. The injuries were consistent with people being set on fire, Redfearn said on Sunday, adding that one of the victims was in critical condition.
The people in hospital range from 67 to 88 years old, the Associated Press reported.
The group calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas were part of Run for Their Lives, which organizes non-violent running and walking events.
Run for Their Lives has two chapters in Colorado, plus 100 others across 30 U.S. states. According to its website, it was started by a group of Israelis in the Bay Area of San Francisco alongside the Hostage and Missing Families Forum (#BringThemHomeNow).
The Boulder attack comes almost two weeks after two Israeli embassy staff were fatally shot in Washington, D.C. while attending an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum. The suspect, Elias Rodriguez, told police after the shooting that he did it for Gaza, and “for Palestine.”
Antisemitism and political violence is on the rise across the U.S. The FBI recorded 1,989 incidents of anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2023, the last year for which data is available.
