Investigating the attack at Colorado Mall FBI
The FBI is investigating reports of “target attacks” at Boulder, Colorado Mall.
The attack that rocked Boulder, Colorado, with a group gathered to support Israeli hostages, occurred within two weeks after two Israeli embassy staff bravely died in the country’s capital, and came amid rising anti-Semitism across the United States.
A male suspect was arrested after multiple people were set on fire in Boulder near a walk to remember the remaining Israeli prisoners of war in Gaza who were accused of Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement that the attack appears to be “a hate crime in light of the targeted group.” Weiser said the group will be held weekly at Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder to encourage the release of Gaza hostages.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a well-known Jewish Democrat, denounced the attack in an X post.
Colorado Governor Jared Police also blows up the incident as “a heinous act of terror. Any kind of hateful act is unacceptable.”
In a statement on social media, the Boulder Jewish Community Centre said it is in contact with law enforcement agencies regarding the city’s Jewish community, noting that safety is a “first priority.”
“We are saddened and heartbroken, and we are saddened to learn that the instigator was thrown at the Walkers as we run for a run on Pearl Street, as we were growing awareness of the hostages still held in Gaza,” the Boulder Jewish Community Center said.
Israeli Embassy staff killed him when he left the Jewish Museum.
On May 21, 30-year-old Jaron Lisinski and his girlfriend Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, left the capital, Jewish Museum, about a mile from the White House and were shot in Washington, DC.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, and was also faced with a count of several firearms charges and killing foreign authorities. Authorities said the attacks are being investigated as a crime of hatred and terrorism.
Yechiel Leiter, the US Israeli ambassador, said the two murdered victims were “a young couple about to engage.”
And a few days after the shooting, dual US and German citizens were arrested in New York and tried to fire a branch of the US embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel said.
ADL: Reports anti-Semitism is rising
Reports of anti-Semitism incidents have continued to rise for the second year in a row, in cooperation with the annual report released by the Prevention League in April.
ADL researchers counted 9,354 cases of anti-Semitic assault, harassment and vandalism nationwide in 2024. This has increased by 5% since 2023.
The number of incidents has been the highest since ADL began tracking anti-Semitism data in 1979.
The Gaza War has raised tensions
Israeli war with Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on October 7th – – This led to a climate that has escalated tensions across the United States, seeing mainly civilians kill 1,200 people and 251 people taken to Gaza. It also comes when the Trump administration detained pro-Palestinian protesters without accusations and halted funding for certain US universities that were the scene of the protest in Gaza.
Israeli campaigns have devastated much of Gaza, killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and destroyed most buildings.
Contributions: Carless, Thao Nguyen, John Bacon
