{"id":10919,"date":"2025-06-02T20:18:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T20:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/?p=10919"},"modified":"2025-06-09T20:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T20:20:10","slug":"the-guardian-how-a-man-with-a-blow-torch-turned-a-rally-in-colorado-into-a-scene-of-horror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/the-guardian-how-a-man-with-a-blow-torch-turned-a-rally-in-colorado-into-a-scene-of-horror\/","title":{"rendered":"The Guardian: How \u2018a man with a blow torch\u2019 turned a rally in Colorado into a scene of horror"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published by the Guardian.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

By Richard Luscombe<\/p>\n

The first 911 calls reporting the Colorado flamethrower attack<\/a> were as horrific as they were unbelievable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a male with a blow torch setting people on fire,\u201d a dispatcher advised the city\u2019s police department, passing on the account of an eyewitness. Another official reported: \u201cMultiple burns, potential terror attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

What had been a peaceful rally at the Boulder\u2019s Pearl Street Mall on Sunday in solidarity with hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza quickly turned into a scene of horror, with medical crews arriving to find victims lying or sitting on the ground with their legs and bodies burned \u2013 and police holding a suspect face down with a gun at his back.<\/p>\n

Members of the public raced from local restaurants with buckets and jugs of water to pour over those who were injured.<\/p>\n

The attack by a man hurling molotov cocktails and shouting \u201cFree Palestine\u201d struck at the heart of one of Colorado\u2019s largest Jewish communities, just 10 days after two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead in Washington DC<\/a> by a man yelling the same statement. It also came weeks after an arson attack<\/a> on the home of Josh Shapiro, the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania, by a pro-Palestinian activist.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake no mistake: if and when Jews are targeted to protest Israel\u2019s actions, it should clearly and unequivocally be understood and condemned as antisemitism,\u201d Amy Spitalnick, chief executive of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese attacks come alongside a broader rise in antisemitism, from hate crimes targeting Jews walking down the street, to efforts to marginalize, isolate, and discriminate against Jews, to antisemitic and white supremacist mass violence targeting synagogues and other spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boulder county, where Sunday\u2019s attack took place, had long been considered a safe, \u201cdream community<\/a>\u201d for Jewish families drawn there over the last decade. Numbers have doubled to represent more than 10% of the county\u2019s 330,000 population.<\/p>\n

The eight victims \u2013 four men and four women, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor, and a mother and daughter \u2013 represented a cross-section of a vibrant diaspora in a city with numerous Jewish community centers, schools and businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened here in our local community in Boulder is shameful, and I think people really need to have a sense of accountability,\u201d Fred Greene, rabbi of Boulder\u2019s Har HaShem congregation, told CNN on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want peace, if we want dignity for people, there have to be other ways than this kind of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another expert, University of Boulder Hillel executive director Elyana Funk, told the network that the assault was especially shocking because it targeted a \u201cquiet and respectful\u201d assembly of residents who were taking part in a solidarity walk, which has become popular in numerous Jewish communities around the world since the Hamas terror attack on Israel and taking of hostages on 7 October 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis wasn\u2019t a pro-Israel rally or some sort of political statement on the war,\u201d she said. \u201cThese are peaceful people who\u2019ve been walking for nearly 20 months weekly to bring awareness for the hostages.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attack came on the same day as the start of Shavuot, a two-day Jewish festival to celebrate the 50th day after the Passover holiday. Several events were postponed or canceled after the attack, but Funk said resilience would shine through.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe antidote for antisemitism can be Jewish joy, and Jewish community and Jewish connection,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Boulder police chief, Stephen Redfearn, recalled the community reaction to the 2021 mass shooting<\/a> at a supermarket in the city that left 10 people dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoulder is not immune to tragedy sadly and I know a lot of people are scared right now and questioning how this happened and why,\u201d he said at a press conference on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoulder has recovered from acts of violence before and we will again recover. I urge this community to come together. Now is not the time to be divisive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attack took place on Pearl Street Mall, a popular pedestrian area of downtown Boulder laced with stores and restaurants, overlooked by the University of Colorado, and a regular venue for the event supporting Run for Their Lives<\/a>, an organization calling for the immediate release of the Gaza hostages.<\/p>\n

Eyewitnesses said the suspect, 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, appeared out of nowhere and seemingly singled out individuals taking part in the rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was easily the most horrific thing I\u2019ve ever seen in my life,\u201d Brian Horowitz, 37, told CNN.<\/p>\n

The Denver resident said he was in a cafe with his family when he heard screams and raced to confront the suspect, who was shouting profanities at his victims.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Fuck you Zionists,\u201d Horowitz said the man yelled. \u201c\u2018You\u2019re killing my people so I kill you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Horowitz added: \u201cThere\u2019s someone who is outraged enough to go and attack these elderly people who are doing absolutely nothing to provoke it other than walk in silence and meet in a courtyard peacefully. It\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally published by the Guardian.\u00a0 By Richard Luscombe The first 911 calls reporting the Colorado flamethrower attack were as horrific as they were unbelievable. \u201cThere is a male with a blow torch setting people on fire,\u201d a dispatcher advised the city\u2019s police department, passing on the account of an eyewitness. Another official reported: \u201cMultiple burns, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Guardian: How \u2018a man with a blow torch\u2019 turned a rally in Colorado into a scene of horror - Jewish Council for Public Affairs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/the-guardian-how-a-man-with-a-blow-torch-turned-a-rally-in-colorado-into-a-scene-of-horror\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Guardian: How \u2018a man with a blow torch\u2019 turned a rally in Colorado into a scene of horror - Jewish Council for Public Affairs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Originally published by the Guardian.\u00a0 By Richard Luscombe The first 911 calls reporting the Colorado flamethrower attack were as horrific as they were unbelievable. \u201cThere is a male with a blow torch setting people on fire,\u201d a dispatcher advised the city\u2019s police department, passing on the account of an eyewitness. 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