Investigating the attack at Colorado Mall FBI
The FBI is investigating reports of “target attacks” at Boulder, Colorado Mall.
The male suspect was taken into custody on Sunday after multiple people were burned during an event in Gaza calling for the release of Israeli hostages at a pedestrian mall in Boulder, COLORADO, authorities said after the FBI previously described it as a “targeted terrorist attack.”
The suspect, who authorities identified as Mohamed Sabri Soliman, 45, said at a Sunday night’s press conference that he cried out “Free Palestine” while attacking Mark Mikalek, a special agent in the FBI’s Denverfield office. The attack, ages 67 to 88, contained eight casualties, all of which were taken to a local hospital.
The victims have been injured ranging from minors to serious ones, and authorities say at least two people have been airlifted to a Denver area hospital. Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfern said at least one victim was “very seriously injured” and the other victims had been “morely injured.”
Sunday’s attacks fell on Shabuotto’s Jewish holiday, bringing more than a week that killed an Israeli embassy aide outside the Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. He reported that witnesses saw the suspect using a makeshift flamethrower and throwing a burnt Cen device into the crowd.
Earlier Sunday, Boulder Dispatch received several calls to the Pearl Street county courthouse around 1:26pm local time, Redfern said at an afternoon press conference. The first report showed that there was a man with a weapon and people were burning on the scene. Responding officers encountered multiple victims who were injured with injuries consistent with burns and other injuries, Redfearn added.
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 meets weekly at Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder and “seek for the release of Gaza hostages.”
“Hate is not in Colorado,” added Weiser. “We all have the right to gather peacefully and the freedom to speak our views. But these violent acts must become more frequent, brave, approach homes, stop, and those who commit these horrible acts must fully explain.”
President Donald Trump was briefed on the attacks in Boulder, a senior White House official.
Mikalek said the FBI has dealt with crime scenes and targeted vehicles and interviewed key witnesses.
“As a result of these preliminary facts, it is clear that this is a target of violence, and the FBI is investigating it as a terrorist act,” Mikalek said. “Sadly, attacks like this are becoming too common across the country. This is an example of how perpetrators of violence continue to threaten communities across our nation.”
Several blocks remained closed in downtown Boulder surrounding the county courthouse, according to Redfearn. Multiple teams were in the area, including dogs, bomb squads and dangerous goods.
Authorities were still working to clear the device area.
The video posted on social media appears to show a confused scene after a man attacks a group of people with a Molotov cocktail.
In one video, a shirtless man in dark sunglasses, believed to be the suspect, holds two glass containers filled with clear liquid, roaming back and forth through patches of grass, screaming at people nearby. Bystanders appear to provide first aid to anyone lying on the ground.
The Antiformation League, an organization that works to combat anti-Semitism and bias, said the 53-second video was filmed after the attack.
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Boulder’s Aaron Brooks was on his bike when he heard someone screaming for a doctor and saw a friend running from the courthouse. Brooks said he often took part in marches, so he saw what was going on towards the court.
The attack just happened, he said.
“I saw smoke coming from the ground, I saw blood coming from the ground and smoke coming from people,” Brooks said. “It looked like someone was on fire, and people were throwing water at her.”
Brooks said he saw a shirtless man holding two bottles filled with liquid, screaming. He saw another man screaming and thought they were together, but he later learned that the second man was trying to stop the suspect.
“I cried out to him, ‘What are you doing? Why did you do this?” Brooks said. “My friend was burning and hurting, and I became emotional.”
Hours before the attack in Boulder, 18 to 20 buildings on the University of Denver campus were destroyed with anti-Israel graffiti.
The vandalism took place late on Friday or early on Saturday, said Adam Robner, director of the university’s Center for Jewish Studies. Rovner said the graffiti spread out between buildings throughout the campus, including the dormitory.
It was not immediately clear whether Graffiti was linked to an attack at Boulder, about 30 minutes northwest of Denver.
“This kind of thing is what makes Intifada globalisation, in the wake of the murders at the Jewish Museum in DC and this horrifying attack on a peaceful vigil in Boulder,” Robner said. “It means an attack on innocent people.”
In a statement on social media, the Boulder Jewish Community Centre has been in contact with law enforcement agencies regarding the city’s Jewish community and said it is safe.
“We are sad and heartbroken to learn that we were thrown into Walker on a run for life on Pearl Street as we were raising awareness of the hostages that are still being held in Gaza,” the Boulder Jewish Community Center said.
Run for Thir Live is an organization that encourages global running or walking events seeking the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, according to the organization’s website. On the website, communities meet once a week for a kilometer walk or run, wearing matching T-shirts from the countries in which the hostages came from and raising flags. The event is shared on social media by local organizers.
“The term “run” is symbolic, emphasizing that hostages cannot run for their own lives,” the website said. “We run and walk on their behalf, because they can’t act before it’s too late.”
The organisation working to combat anti-Semitism and bias said in a statement it had reviewed a video of the suspect who was believed to have threw a Molotov cocktail.
“He believes he can say, ‘How many children did you kill?’ “We need to end the Zionists,” ADL said.
The organization said the man also gestured towards what appears to be the victims of the attack, declaring, “They are murderers.”
At 2:08pm local time, the Boulder Police Department said in a post by X it responded to reports of several casualties near Bouldermall, about 30 miles northwest of Denver. Pearl Street is a four-block pedestrian mall that stretches from 11th Avenue to 15th Avenue. Several businesses and restaurants, as well as Boulder County Courthouse, are located in the area.
About an hour later, the police department said it was evacuating several blocks around the area between Walnut and Pine Streets as it continued “to investigate this aggressive incident.”
“There were a lot of people. It’s a very beautiful day,” Redfian said, adding that there are groups of people holding peaceful demonstrations to support Israel. The police chief said he believes protests have occurred frequently in the area.
Redfearn called the incident “unacceptable” and noted that it was too early for police to speculate on their motives.
Dan Bongino, the assistant director of the FBI, said at X that the agency’s leadership team was on the ground in Boulder and had immediate updates on the attack.
“This act of fear is being investigated as an ideologically motivated act of violence based on early information, evidence and witness statements,” Bongino said. “We’ll speak clearly about these cases when facts justify it.”
Civil rights and advocacy groups have reported a surge in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia cases since the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
According to Israeli tallies, the attack killed around 1,200 people and 251 Israelis were held hostages in Gaza. Israel’s subsequent military campaign killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and destroyed many of the enclaves, Gaza health officials said.
The attack also occurred after two Israeli embassy employees were fatally shot and killed in Washington, D.C. on May 21. The victim had left the event at the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspects fired and killed Jaron Lisinski and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. The suspect cried “free, free Palestine” while in custody, authorities said.
The Israeli embassy prompted security measures immediately after the incident, USA Today reported earlier. A few days after the shooting, federal authorities announced that double-US and German citizens had been arrested in New York after allegedly attempting to fire a branch of the US embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Colorado Gov. Jared Police said in a statement on social media that the state is working with local and federal law enforcement agencies to help with the investigation. The governor condemned the attack and asked the suspects to be charged with “the fullest extent of the law.”
“My thoughts are communicated to those injured in this heinous and targeted Jewish community. Boulder is strong,” Police said. “Together we will overcome the tragedy and together as a community.”
“It’s immeasurable that the community is facing another anti-Semitic attack in Boulder on the eve of Shabuott, as the Jewish community has been engulfed in the recent anti-Semitic murders in Washington, D.C.,” the governor added. “Several individuals were brutally attacked, peacefully paying attention to the light-form of hostages that had been detained by Hamasterolists in Gaza for 604 days.”
The Prevention League said it is monitoring the situation “as it approaches Shabuotto’s holiday.”
“We know of reports of attacks at Boulder Run for their life events today. It’s a weekly meeting of members of the Jewish community to support hostages lured on 10/7,” the organization said in X.
According to Jewishcolorado, a Denver-based nonprofit organization, part of the North American Jewish Federation, The Run for Thir Lives Walk is a recurring event in downtown Boulder.
“We have been walking through Boulder, Colorado since Thanksgiving 2023, showing hostage light-like solidarity,” according to the organization’s website. “We will continue to walk until all the hostages are released.”
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Contributors: Christopher Kang, Joey Garrison and Charles Ventura, USA Today
