Authorities report that several people have been hurt when a guy yelling “free Palestine” threw Molotov cocktails at a ceremony honoring Israeli hostages in Colorado.
About 30 miles (48km) from Denver, police reported eight persons aged 52 to 88 were hurt in the incident at the Pearl Street Mall, a popular outdoor area in Boulder.
Declared a suspected terror assault by the FBI, the suspect reportedly employed Molotov cocktails, an improvised flamethrower, and other incendiary devices.
Video of the attack shows the shirtless suspect screaming at the group and carrying what looks to be Molotov cocktails in each hand upon his arrest.
Run for Their Lives, a pro-Israeli group holding marches in the outdoor pedestrian mall in solidarity with Israeli hostages in Gaza, was hosting a weekly scheduled rally when the attack took place.
Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn stated at a press conference that police received calls approximately 13:26 local time (19:26 GMT) regarding a guy with a weapon and persons on fire.
Responding police discovered several injured, including burn victims.
Rabbi Israel Wilhelm, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado Boulder, said that one of the attack victims was a Holocaust survivor.
Head of the FBI’s Denver office Mark Michalek claimed following Sunday’s event that witnesses reported to authorities the suspect used a “makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd.”
Redfearn further mentioned that those devices included Molotov cocktails, which he claimed were thrown among the audience.
Mr. Michalek said the suspect was 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman.
“People may have different opinions about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences,” Weiser said in a Sunday comment. “Colorado has no place for hate.”
Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, claimed the incident “pure antisemitism” and stated he was “shocked”.
“Shocked by the horrible antisemitic terror attack targeting Jews in Boulder, Colorado,” he penned on X. “Fanned by the blood libels disseminated in the media, this is pure antisemitism.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, also expressed dismay over the attack, labeling it as “terrorism” and advocating “concrete action” in reaction.
The ambassador claimed in a post on X that Jewish demonstrators were fiercely attacked”.
“Terrorism against Jews does not stop at the Gaza border – it is already blazing the streets of America,” he remarked.
