An Egyptian man using a makeshift flamethrower and incendiary devices attacked a peaceful event on Boulder, Colorado’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall in support of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas on Sunday injuring at least eight people, including a Holocaust survivor, multiple media sources report.
A shirtless Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was captured on camera by onlookers ranting about Israel and screaming “Free Palestine” after throwing Molotov cocktails at runners and walkers and dousing some with a flammable liquid which he then lit ablaze. Soliman was in the United States illegally, having overstayed a visa.
The FBI is investigating the incident as a terrorist attack.
“Sadly, attacks like this are becoming too common across the country,” said FBI Denver Field Office Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek said, adding: “This is an example of how perpetrators of violence continue to threaten communities across the nation.”
Soliman’s target was an event called ‘Run for Their Lives’ that had been organized to demonstrate solidarity with the 58 Israeli citizens still held by the terrorist Palestinian group Hamas following the October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel. The injured ranged in age from 55 too 88 years old.
Sunday’s attack marks a second, high-profile instance of anti-Semitic violence in America in two weeks. Last month, a Chicago man shot and killed two young Israeli diplomats in Washington, DC.
