Several members of a group gathering to raise awareness about people taken hostage during Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel were set on fire Sunday afternoon on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder in what Gov. Jared Polis called an “act of terror.”
Police arrested Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, at the scene. He shouted “free Palestine!” as he used a “makeshift flamethrower” and hurled an incendiary device at the demonstrators, said Mark D. Michalek, special agent in charge of the FBI in Denver.
Eight people were injured. They ranged in age from 52 to 88. At least one victim was in critical condition, authorities said.
Officers responded to an area near 13th and Pearl streets, in front of the Boulder County Courthouse, at about 1:30 p.m., after receiving reports of people being set on fire, Boulder police Chief Stephen Redfearn said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.
Redfearn said four people were taken to Boulder Community Hospital. Two others were airlifted to the burn unit at University of Colorado in Aurora, he said. Early Monday, police said four men and four women were among the injured.
The Anti-Defamation League said in a post on Facebook that the attack targeted a weekly meeting of Jewish community members who were walking to raise awareness of the hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The demonstrators were part of the group Run for their Lives.
Miri Kornfeld, an organizer with the Denver chapter of Run for their Lives, said five people were burned, including an older woman whose clothes caught on fire and had to be rolled on the ground to put out the flames.
Bystanders also threw water on the woman, she said. Kornfeld wasn’t at the demonstration and was relaying information from another organizer, who witnessed the attack.
Videos of the attack, posted to social media, showed people bringing water to pour on an injured woman lying on the ground while a shirtless man holding spray bottles of a clear liquid paced behind them yelling.
Kornfeld said the group had just arrived at the courthouse on the mall and the walk’s leader was providing updates about the hostages held in Gaza, when a man with a box of bottles began to yell profanities at the group.
“He didn’t make it 30 seconds through his speech before a man who was waiting there for them with a box of bottles, threw a bottle at the group,” Kornfeld said.
The leader told Kornfeld that it felt like “the ground beneath them caught on fire.”
Aaron Brooks, a Jewish Boulder resident, arrived at the Run for their Lives demonstration late Sunday — just moments after the attack. He found a grisly scene.
“I saw smoke on the ground. I saw blood on the ground. I saw smoke coming from a person — literally a human being burning,” he said.
The attacker was still standing there and was holding bottles in his hands. Brooks said he had never seen the man before.
Brooks heard the man say something to the effect of “you burn my people” or “you’re burning my people.”
Brooks began tending to the injured, including an older woman who he said had survived the Holocaust.
Run for Their Lives had planned a walk for 1 p.m. Sunday at the corner of 8th and Pearl streets, the group’s website said.
The group has been walking the length of the Pearl Street Mall and back on Sunday afternoons since Thanksgiving 2023 to bring attention to the hostages, according to the group. The group regularly stops at the courthouse and records a video.
“This is not a protest,” organizers of the walk said on the group’s website. “It is a peaceful walk to show solidarity with the hostages and their families, and a plea for their release.”
Similar walks were being held nationwide.
“It is clear that this is a targeted act of violence and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism,” said Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Denver.
The suspect was arrested without incident. He was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, Redfearn, the Boulder police chief, said.
Redfearn said police believe Soliman, of El Paso County, was the only attacker.
“We’re fairly confident we have the lone suspect in custody,” he said.
In a video recorded moments after the attack, black smoke billowed from near the courthouse as people screamed and fled the area.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement that “from what we know, this attack appears to be a hate crime.”
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty could not specify what charges the suspect may face, but said local and federal law enforcement are working together to “hold the attacker fully accountable.”
Dougherty commended the bystanders who rendered aid to the victims in the attack, alongside first responders, and “acted with great courage” to help arrest him.
Polis said he was “actively monitoring” the situation.
“My thoughts go out to the people who have been injured and impacted by this heinous act of terror,” Polis said about 3:30 p.m. in a post on X. “Hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable. While details emerge, the state works with local and federal law enforcement to support this investigation. More information will be provided as it becomes available.”
Rep. Joe Neguse, in a post on X, said he was “praying hard for the victims” in what he called a “horrific attack.”
Federal and local law enforcement officers have evacuated the surrounding area. Several blocks between Walnut and Pine streets were cordoned off Sunday afternoon.
Dan Bongino, deputy director of the FBI, posted on social media that FBI agents are on scene.
“We are investigating this incident as an act of terror, and targeted violence. All of the necessary assets will be dedicated to this investigation,” Bongino said on social media. “If you aided or abetted this attack, we will find you. You cannot hide.”
The attack interrupted a busy Sunday afternoon on the Pearl Street Mall, which is typically packed with shoppers and tourists.
“This was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in downtown Boulder on Pearl Street,” Redfearn said. “This act was unacceptable.”
Boulder City Councilwoman Tara Winer, who is Jewish, has joined the Run for Their Lives walks in the past. She said the demonstrations have always been peaceful and she’s never experienced antisemitism during them.
Winer didn’t join the walk Sunday because she had relatives in town. She said she knows four of the people who were injured in the attack.
She said while she’s “mortified” and “shell-shocked” about the attack, she’s not surprised — especially after two Israeli diplomats were killed recently in Washington, D.C., by a man upset about Israel’s war in Gaza.
Winer said people frequently show up to City Council meetings complaining about Boulder’s connections to Israel, some of whom have directed antisemitic remarks at her.
“There are a lot of Jewish people in Boulder,” she said. “But it’s not an antisemitic city.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.