FBI says 8 injured in Colorado attack by man with makeshift flamethrower
who yelled 'Free Palestine'
[June 02, 2025]
By COLLEEN SLEVIN and ERIC TUCKER
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A man with a makeshift flamethrower yelled “Free
Palestine” and hurled an incendiary device into a group that had
assembled to raise attention for Israeli hostages in Gaza, law
enforcement officials said Sunday. Eight people were injured, some with
burns.
The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was booked into the Boulder
County jail north of Denver and expected to face charges in connection
with the attack the FBI was investigating as a terrorist act. Online
records did not immediately show when he would make a court appearance.
The burst of violence at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall, a
four-block area in downtown Boulder, unfolded against the backdrop of a
war between Israel and Hamas that continues to inflame global tensions
and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United
States. The attack happened on the beginning of the Jewish holiday of
Shavuot, which is marked with the reading of the Torah and barely a week
after a man who also yelled “Free Palestine” was charged with fatally
shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside of a Jewish museum in
Washington.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Monday
saying he, his wife and the entire nation of Israel were praying for the
full recovery of the people wounded in the “vicious terror attack” in
Colorado.
“This attack was aimed against peaceful people who wished to express
their solidarity with the hostages held by Hamas, simply because they
were Jews,” Netanyahu said.
Attack leads to increased security elsewhere
Across the U.S., the New York Police Department said it has upped its
presence at religious sites throughout the city for Shavuot.
“Sadly, attacks like this are becoming too common across the country,”
said Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Denver
field office, which encompasses Boulder. “This is an example of how
perpetrators of violence continue to threaten communities across the
nation.”
The eight victims who were wounded range in age from 52 to 88 and the
injuries spanned from serious to minor, officials said.
The attack occurred as people with a volunteer group called Run For
Their Lives was concluding their weekly demonstration to raise
visibility for the hostages who remain in Gaza. Video from the scene
shows a witness shouting, “He’s right there. He’s throwing Molotov
cocktails,” as a police officer with his gun drawn advances on a
bare-chested suspect who is holding containers in each hand.
Alex Osante of San Diego said he was having lunch on a restaurant patio
across the pedestrian mall when he heard the crash of a bottle breaking
on the ground, a “boom” sound followed by people yelling and screaming.
In video of the scene captured by Osante, people could be seen pouring
water on a woman lying on the ground who Osante said had caught on fire
during the attack. A man, who later identified himself as an Israeli
visiting Boulder who decided to join the group that day, ran up to
Osante on the video asking for some water to help.
Suspect reemerged after initial attack before being arrested
After the initial attack, Osante said the suspect went behind some
bushes and then reemerged and threw a Molotov cocktail but apparently
accidentally caught himself on fire as he threw it. The man then took
off his shirt and what appeared to be a bulletproof vest before the
police arrived. The man dropped to the ground and was arrested without
any apparent resistance in the video that Osante filmed.
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Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl
Street Mall Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David
Zalubowski)
As people tried to help the woman on the ground, another woman who
appeared to be a participant in the event yelled to others out of
the camera’s view, defending their cause, saying they don’t talk
about the government but just talk about the hostages.
Lynn Segal, 72, was among about 20 people who gathered Sunday. They
had finished their march in front of the courthouse when a “rope of
fire” shot in front of her and then "two big flares.”
She said the scene quickly turned chaotic as people worked to find
water to put out flames and find help.
Segal, who said she is Jewish on her father’s side and has supported
the Palestinian cause for more than 40 years, was concerned that she
might be accused of helping the suspect because she was wearing a
pro-Palestinian shirt.
“There were people who were burning, I wanted to help,” she said.
“But I didn’t want to be associated with the perpetrator.”
Authorities say they believe the suspect acted alone
Authorities did not disclose details about Soliman but said they
believe that he acted alone and that no other suspect was being
sought. No criminal charges were immediately announced but officials
said they would move to hold Soliman accountable. He was also
injured and was taken to the hospital to be treated, but authorities
didn’t elaborate on the nature of his injuries.
FBI leaders immediately declared the attack an act of terrorism and
the Justice Department denounced it as a "needless act of violence,
which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans."
“This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically
motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and
witness accounts. We will speak clearly on these incidents when the
facts warrant it,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a post on
X.
Israel's war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into
southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly
civilians, and abducting about 250 others. They are still holding 58
hostages, around a third believed to be alive, after most of the
rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s military campaign has killed over 54,000 people in
Hamas-run Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s
Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were
civilians or combatants. The offensive has destroyed vast areas,
displaced around 90% of the population and left people almost
completely reliant on international aid.
The violence comes four years after a shooting rampage at a grocery
store in Boulder, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of
Denver, that killed 10 people. The gunman was sentenced to life in
prison for murder after a jury rejected his attempt to avoid prison
time by pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.
Multiple blocks of the pedestrian mall area were evacuated by
police. The scene shortly after the attack was tense, as law
enforcement agents with a police dog walked through the streets
looking for threats and instructed the public to stay clear of the
mall.
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