The Denver Post (“8 people set on fire in ‘targeted act of violence’ on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall“):
Eight people marching in support of Israeli hostages held in Gaza were burned Sunday by a man wielding what authorities called a “makeshift flamethrower” and an incendiary device.
The attack happened at 1:26 p.m. on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, during a weekly walk organized by the city’s chapter of Run for Their Lives, which calls for the release of hostages held by the terrorist group Hamas.
Mark Michalek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office, characterized the incident as a “targeted act of violence” and said in a Sunday evening news briefing that it’s under investigation as terrorism, echoing a statement from FBI Director Kash Patel earlier in the day.
Police arrested Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, of El Paso County, after bystanders pointed him out to police officers outside the Boulder County Courthouse, Michalek said.
Soliman used a makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd gathered outside the courthouse to harm them, Michalek said, adding that the suspect yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack.
Videos showed people rushing to pour water on one victim while others lay collapsed nearby.
“It’s almost like it was a gun of fire,” said Lynn Segal, who witnessed the attack. “It’s like a line of fire.”
Police and the FBI initially said six people were injured in the attack, but law enforcement officials increased that tally to eight late Sunday night.
The victims include four women and four men between the ages of 52 and 88, according to Boulder police and the FBI. Authorities initially said four people were taken to the Boulder Community Health hospital, and two others were airlifted to UCHealth University of Colorado’s burn unit in Aurora with more severe injuries.
Police arrested a shirtless man at the scene, who was shown in videos posted to social media holding glass bottles and shouting “Free Palestine” and calling to “end Zionists.”
Asked about Soliman’s affiliations with any other groups, Boulder police Chief Stephen Redfearn said the investigation – which includes the FBI – was ongoing, though he said authorities were almost certain that the suspect acted alone.
CBS News Colorado (“Attack at Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall in Colorado burns eight people, officials say; suspect in custody“):
A suspect is in custody after what the FBI is calling a “targeted act of violence” at Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday.
Witnesses said the suspect used a “makeshift flamethrower” and threw Molotov cocktails that burned multiple victims during a march in support of Israeli hostages, according to an FBI official. Boulder police say eight people were injured.
The suspect was identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, FBI Special Agent in Charge Mike Michalek said Sunday evening. Soliman was allegedly heard yelling “free Palestine” during the attack, according to Michalek, who said that it was “clear this is a targeted act of violence” and it is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
Soliman is an Egyptian national, government officials confirmed to CBS Colorado. He arrived in California in 2022 on a non-immigrant visa, multiple sources told CBS News. That original visa expired in Feb. 2023, the sources said. Soliman had recently been living in Colorado Springs.
Presuming initial indicators that Soliman was acting alone—likely what Max Abrahms has dubbed a “loon wolf terrorist”—are correct, this is just another sad episode of politically motivated violence that happens so often that I’ve lost track. That he’s here illegally will doubtless feed even more into the anti-immigrant rhetoric, notwithstanding that he was admitted legally and is wildly unrepresentative even of illegal immigrants. And, of course, this will feed whatever narrative about the Israel-Palestine conflict one chooses to feed.
