Eight people were injured in a ‘targeted terror attack’ when a man used a makeshift flamethrower to set fire to attendees at an event in Colorado calling for the release of Israeli hostages.
The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, yelled ‘Free Palestine’ at an outdoor mall in Boulder, where the group had gathered to raise attention to hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
A peaceful Sunday afternoon gathering in support of Israeli hostages turned into a scene of horror when a man wielding a makeshift flamethrower and hurling Molotov cocktails attacked demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, leaving eight people injured in what the FBI is investigating as a “targeted terror attack.”
The shocking assault unfolded at 1:26 PM on Pearl Street Mall, Boulder’s popular pedestrian shopping district, where members of the group “Run for Their Lives” had assembled for their weekly march to raise awareness about the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
HORROR ON PEARL STREET
Witnesses described scenes of chaos as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national who was in the US illegally, allegedly launched his attack while screaming “Free Palestine” and “End Zionists.
Alex Osante, a tourist from San Diego who was having lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant, told authorities he heard a “big boom” and saw a woman “on fire from head to toe.
In footage said to be from the scene of the attack, a shirtless man screamed “End Zionists” while holding what appear to be Molotov cocktails. The attacker also shouted “Palestine is free” and “How many children you killed?” at his victims.
Witnesses said they saw people writhing on the ground and people running with water to try to help immediately afterward.
VICTIMS RANGE FROM 52 TO 88 YEARS OLD
Eight people were hospitalized with burn injuries, ranging in age from 52 to 88 years old. Two victims were flown by helicopter to its burn unit. One victim remains in critical condition.
Rabbi Israel Wilhelm, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado Boulder, told CBS Colorado the 88-year-old victim is a Holocaust refugee who fled Europe, calling her a “very loving person.” Another victim is a professor at CU, Wilhelm said.
Brooke Coffman, a 19-year-old University of Colorado student who witnessed the attack, said she saw four women lying or sitting on the ground with burns on their legs. 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.
‘ACT OF TERRORISM’ UNDER FBI INVESTIGATION
Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the Denver field office, said federal law enforcement is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Mike Michalek said Sunday evening. As a result of these preliminary facts, it is clear that this is a targeted act of violence and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Sunday night statement on X that the bureau was already investigating a “targeted terror attack.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on social media, “The @ODNIgov’s National Counterterrorism Center is working with the FBI and local law enforcement on the ground investigating the targeted terror attack against a weekly meeting of Jewish community members who had just gathered in Boulder, CO to raise awareness of the hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
SUSPECT: AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FROM EGYPT
The attacker has been identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, an Egyptian national who was living in El Paso County, Colorado.
Soliman first arrived in the U.S. after landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 27, 2022, with a non-immigrant visa. He was authorized to stay until February 2, 2023, but never left the country.
He filed a claim a month later, in September, and was granted a work authorization in March, 2023. The authorization expired at the end of March of this year, at which point it appears he remained here illegally, the officials added.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller posted on X: “A terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado by an illegal alien,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote on X. He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit.
FACING MURDER CHARGES
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, of El Paso County, Colorado, could be charged with two counts of first-degree murder — one with “extreme indifference” and one listed as “deliberation with intent — nonfamily — gun.
Soliman also faces being charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault, one count of causing serious injury to an at-risk adult or someone over 70 and one count of using explosives or incendiary devices. His bail has been set at $10 million.
After committing the attack, the suspect told police “I did it to avenge my people,” one of the law enforcement officials said.
POLITICAL CONDEMNATION POURS IN
The attack drew immediate and widespread condemnation from political leaders across the spectrum.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis condemned the attack as a “vicious act of terrorism.” The governor, who is Jewish, said: “it is unfathomable that the Jewish community is facing another terror attack here in Boulder, on the eve of the holiday of Shavuot no less,” the governor said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the victims were attacked “simply because they were Jews” and that he trusted U.S. authorities would prosecute “the cold blood perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law,” according to the Reuters news agency.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, in a statement on the incident said: “Terrorism against Jews does not stop at the Gaza border — it is already burning the streets” of the U.S.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, whose mother was born in a concentration camp and whose grandparents survived the Holocaust, said the attack appeared to be “a hate crime given the group that was targeted.
COMMUNITY IN SHOCK
The attack has sent shockwaves through Boulder’s Jewish community and beyond. The New York Police Department said it was stepping up its protection of religious sites in the city for the Shavuot holiday with patrols and heavy weapons teams.
Run for Their Lives, the organization that was targeted, has been holding weekly demonstrations since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. More than 250 hostages were taken during the attack. Following multiple waves of releases and several deaths, 23 are believed to still be alive.
All upcoming Run for Their Lives events have been canceled until further notice, said, who was not at the walk in Boulder.
LATEST IN STRING OF ANTISEMITIC ATTACKS
The Boulder attack comes less than two weeks after an attacker gunned down two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC. The alleged shooter shouted “Free Palestine” and “I did it for Gaza” after the killings, according to authorities.
Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, the most senior Jewish member of the House, said that the Boulder, Colorado flamethrower attack was clearly antisemitic. Well, it was obviously an antisemitic attack and a latest in a series of antisemitic attacks,” Nadler told CNN.
The FBI has warned that such attacks could inspire copycat violence against Jewish and Israeli targets across the United States.
PRESIDENT TRUMP BRIEFED
A senior White House official told Newsweek that President Donald Trump “has been briefed” on the attack. President Trump has been briefed on the situation, a White House official told Axios.
As the investigation continues, Boulder police have evacuated multiple blocks of the Pearl Street Mall area, with K-9 units deployed to search for any additional threats.
The attack has reignited fierce debates about antisemitism, immigration enforcement, and security for Jewish communities across America, as the nation grapples with yet another act of violence targeting those supporting Israel.
