A violent attack occurred in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday when an assailant hurled Molotov cocktails at a group gathered to raise awareness for hostages taken by Hamas. According to Fox News, witnesses reported that the attacker shouted, “We have to end Zionists,” along with other incoherent statements about Palestine. Police apprehended the suspect, whom the FBI identified as Mohamad Soliman, an alleged illegal immigrant from Egypt. According to reports, several people were hospitalized, with some suffering serious injuries.
“The shocking violence unfolded at 1:26 p.m. local time, when Boulder police were called to the county courthouse on Pearl Street for reports of a man, who had a weapon and was setting people on fire, according to Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn.” Fox News reports. “The attack took place near an event put on by ‘Run for Their Lives,’ a grassroots group that organizes run and walk events calling for the release of Israeli hostages held since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).”
According to the Washington Free Beacon, videos posted to social media captured the chaotic aftermath, showing flames at the scene as bystanders rushed to assist the injured. One clip reportedly shows the suspect after the attack, declaring, “This will end when Palestine is free and for us.”
The targeted group, Run For Their Lives, organizes peaceful walks each Sunday in a local neighborhood to advocate for the release of Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7 attack. According to organizer Miri Kornfeld, the attacker appeared to be waiting for the group’s arrival before launching the incendiary devices. Five people were burned, reportedly including a woman who had to extinguish flames by rolling on the ground. Eyewitnesses described harrowing scenes, including an elderly woman with severe burns and others in shock, their clothing burned away and skin badly injured. Bystanders used water from a nearby fountain to aid the victims until emergency services arrived.
FBI director Kash Patel described the incident as a “targeted terror attack.” Both the FBI and local authorities are investigating, treating the event as a possible act of terrorism against supporters of Israel.
According to Fox News, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the attack, which occurred on the eve of Shavuot, “appears to have been motivated by hate.”
“From what we know, this attack appears to be a hate crime given the group that was targeted,’ Weiser wrote in a statement. “People may have differing views about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences.”
“Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sources told Fox News Soliman is in the country illegally as a visa over-stay, who came in during the Biden administration. He allegedly flew into the U.S. on Aug. 27, 2022, arriving at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on a B1/B2 non-immigrant visa. Soliman was authorized to stay through Feb. 26, 2023, but never left, according to officials. On Sept. 29, 2022, he filed a claim, possibly for asylum.”
This attack follows a recent incident in which two Israeli embassy staff members were tragically shot and killed in Washington, D.C. The alleged shooter, Elias Rodriguez, reportedly shouted “free, free Palestine” during his arrest and has been linked to anti-Israel groups.
