Several hospitalized with burns after man attacks event for Israeli hostages in Colorado
The FBI director called the incident in downtown Boulder a ‘targeted terror attack’
The downtown Boulder County Government Building following an incident that the FBI is investigating as an act of terror June 1. A suspect is in custody after reportedly throwing an incendiary device at a group participating in an organized walk near the courthouse to show solidarity with hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images
By Arno Rosenfeld June 1, 2025
A man attacked and burned six people with Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower during a rally in Boulder, Colorado, calling for the release of hostages in Gaza in what the FBI called “a targeted terror attack.”
A crowd associated with Run for Their Lives, a weekly vigil calling for the release of captives still held by Hamas, was gathered near the courthouse in downtown Boulder around 1:30 p.m. Sunday when police began receiving reports that “there was a man with a weapon and people were being set on fire,” Boulder Police Chief Steven Redfearn said during an evening press conference.
“When we arrived, we encountered multiple victims injured with injuries consistent with burns,” Redfearn said. He added that at least one of the injuries may be life-threatening. The victims ranged in age from 67 to 88, according to Mark Michalek, director of the FBI’s Denver field office.
Michalek said at a press briefing Sunday night that police had arrested Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, who was pointed out to law enforcement officers by witnesses.
“It’s not surprising that Boulder would be the community where this sort of thing takes place.”Brandon RattinerDirector, Denver Jewish Community Relations Council
Brandon Rattiner, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Denver, said that the reaction among local Jews was “sadness and disappointment.”
But he said it was not entirely shocking. Boulder has been a hot spot of protests against Israel, some of which have taken an alarmingly aggressive posture. Rattiner said he attended a previous Run for Their Lives event in Boulder, which usually draw 10 to 20 people, where a protester heckled the crowd with a sign that said “Arm Hamas.”
“It’s not surprising that Boulder would be the community where this sort of thing takes place,” he said in a phone interview.
The incident comes roughly 10 days after a 31-year-old man was arrested for shooting and killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. Elias Rodriguez, the suspect in that case, allegedly said that he “did it for Gaza.”
“This attack, like the murders outside the Jewish museum in Washington, is part of a broader wave of hate that is being tolerated far too easily,” Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, said in a statement.
A joint statement from local Jewish leaders said that “an incendiary device” was thrown at people attending the Run for Their Lives event and that “we are saddened and heartbroken.”
Scene of attack described
Witnesses described a horrific scene at a plaza located along a popular downtown promenade. “It was like this fireball,” Lynn Segal told The Denver Post. “It’s almost like it was a gun of fire.” Another witness described the smell of burning flesh.
Leo Terrell, the top Justice Department official dealing with antisemitism, said one of the victims was a Holocaust survivor. “She endured the worst evil in human history,” Terrell said on social media. “She came to America seeking safety. And now, decades later, she’s victimized again by a terrorist screaming ‘Free Palestine.'” He did not name the victim.
Johanna Schmidt told the Post that her father was at the event and suffered second-degree burns on his leg. Schmidt said there were “lots of other victims who were worse off” than her father.
An anonymous Denver man on X (formerly Twitter) posted what appear to be videos from the scene that show a shirtless man in sunglasses holding two carafes of liquid yelling at participants at the event while at least one woman is collapsed on the ground nearby.
The user said that the man was lighting people on fire with gasoline from a gardening tool and throwing Molotov cocktails while shouting, “You f—ing Zionists kill my people so I kill you!”
“One elderly woman was so severely burned that her hair was charred and she wasn’t moving while others cared for her,” the user, whose account is called BHflyer5, wrote. “Others were sitting/lying down in shock, some with their pants burned off, skin melted up their legs with their skin even split open and bleeding in some areas.”
The Anti-Defamation League described Boulder Run for Their Lives as a weekly gathering where community members ran or walked to support the Israeli hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7. The organization said on X that it had reviewed videos from the scene where the suspect can heard saying “we have to end Zionists” and “they are killers.”
The attack was swiftly condemned by local and national elected officials. Jared Polis, Colorado’s Democratic governor, who is Jewish, said “it is unfathomable that the Jewish community is facing another terror attack here in Boulder, on the eve of the holiday of Shavuot no less.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “We’re united in prayer for the victims of a targeted terror attack this afternoon in Boulder.”
Dan Bongino, the FBI’s deputy director, said the attack was “being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts.”
Redfearn said earlier in the day that he could not confirm whether the gathering was targeted but described the event as a regular, peaceful gathering that takes place downtown.
“This was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in downtown Boulder on Pearl Street and this act is unacceptable,” he said.
