Six people were wounded Sunday in what the FBI immediately described as a “targeted terrorist attack” at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado, where a group had gathered to draw attention to Israeli hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.
The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabri Soliman, shouted “Free Palestine” and used a homemade flamethrower during the attack, said Mark Michalek, special agent in charge of the Denver field office.
The suspect was taken into custody.
No charges have been filed yet, but officials said they expect to hold him “fully accountable.”
The attack took place at a popular pedestrian mall in Boulder, where a group of people had gathered for an event aimed at drawing attention to the Israeli hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip.
Injuries ranged from serious to minor.
The suspect was also injured and taken to hospital for treatment, but authorities did not specify the nature of his injuries.
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 approaches the shirtless suspect with containers in each hand.
It comes more than a week after a Chicago man shot and killed two Israeli embassy workers in Washington, shouting, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” as he was led away by police.
FBI officials in Washington said they were treating the Boulder attack as an act of terrorism, and the Justice Department, which investigates violence motivated by religion, race or ethnicity, condemned the attack as “a senseless act of violence that follows recent attacks on Jewish-Americans.”
“This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on early information, evidence, and witness statements. We will speak publicly about these incidents when the facts warrant it,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a post on X.
Israel's war in the Gaza Strip began when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250.
They still hold 58 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released under ceasefires or other agreements.
Israel's military campaign in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has killed more than 54,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry did not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.
The offensive resulted in the destruction of vast territories, forced about 90% of the population to flee their homes, and left people almost entirely dependent on international aid.
Boulder police were more cautious about the motive.
Police Chief Steve Redfern said “it would be irresponsible for me to speculate” while witness interviews continued, but noted that the group that had gathered in support of the hostages had gathered peacefully and that the victims' injuries, which ranged from serious to minor, indicated they had been set on fire.
The violence comes four years after a shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, about 25 miles northwest of Denver, left four people dead.
The shooter was sentenced to life in prison for murder after a jury rejected his attempt to avoid jail time by pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.
Police evacuated several blocks of the pedestrian zone.
Shortly after the attack, the situation was tense: law enforcement officers with a dog walked the streets looking for threats and asked the population to stay away from the pedestrian zone.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement that he was “closely monitoring” the situation, adding that “any acts of hate are unacceptable.”
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
