BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A man armed with a makeshift flamethrower and other incendiary devices launched a fiery attack on demonstrators in Colorado who were calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Eight people were injured and the FBI described the violence Sunday as a “targeted terror attack.”
The suspect, identified by the FBI as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, yelled “Free Palestine,” according to Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office. Authorities believe Soliman acted alone.
Here is what we know about the attack:
How did the attack unfold?
Authorities said the attacker targeted volunteers with Run for Their Lives, which organizes running and walking events to call for the immediate release of Israelis being held in Gaza. The hostages were captured by militants during an incursion into southern Israel in 2023 that precipitated the latest Israel-Hamas war.
The group had gathered at the Pearl Street pedestrian mall, a four-block area in downtown Boulder frequented by tourists and students.
Witnesses said the suspect first used the flame thrower, ran behind some bushes then reemerged and threw a Molotov cocktail into the crowd while yelling “Free Palestine.” Soliman was arrested at the scene.
The Israel-Hamas war has inflamed global tensions and contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. A week earlier, two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot to death in Washington, D.C., by a man who yelled “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza” as he was being led away by police.
On Sunday evening, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn declined to talk about a possible reason for the latest attack, saying witnesses were being interviewed.
“It would be irresponsible for me to speculate on motive this early on,” he said.
Who was injured?
The people injured in the Pearl Street attack range in age from 52 to 88. Their injuries — some serious and some minor — were consistent with reports of people being set on fire, Redfearn said.
Photos from the scene showed a burning woman lying on the ground in a fetal position and a man helping to put out the flames using a jug of water.
“The immense wave of positive messages we’ve received is another signal of the health and strong spirits of our community,” Rabbi Yisroel and Leah Wilhelm, directors of the Rohr Chabad House at the University of Colorado said in a statement. “We encourage everyone to respond energetically to this attack by celebrating Shavuot joyously, by attending the reading of the Ten Commandments, and by recommitting to the heritage and traditions we hold so dear.”
Who is Soliman?
Video from the scene shows a shirtless Soliman shouting at onlookers while holding two clear bottles containing a transparent liquid. Another video shows a witness shouting: “He’s right there. He’s throwing Molotov cocktails,” as a police officer with his gun drawn advanced on the suspect.
Soliman has yet to be charged. Court records show he is scheduled to appear in state court in Boulder on Monday afternoon.
One witness, Alex Osante, said Soliman appeared to catch himself on fire as he threw the incendiary device. A booking photo shows the suspect with a bandage over one of his ears. Police said he was taken to the hospital after he was arrested but haven’t described his injuries.
FBI leaders in Washington said they were treating the Boulder attack as an act of terrorism, and the Justice Department — which leads investigations into acts of violence driven by religious, racial or ethnic motivations — decried it as a “needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans.”
“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.
The Department of Homeland Security said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and has been living in the U.S. illegally since his visa expired in February 2023.
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