The downtown and surrounding neighborhoods of Boulder, Colorado. Photo by Getty Images
By Arno Rosenfeld
June 1, 2025
A man attacked and burned a number of people in Boulder, Colorado who were at a rally calling for the release of hostages in Gaza, according to police and a statement from the local Jewish community.
Kash Patel, the FBI director, called the incident “a targeted terror attack,” although local police said it was too early to determine a motive.
A crowd associated with Run for Their Lives, a global campaign calling for the release of captives still held by Hamas, was gathered near the courthouse in downtown Boulder around 1:30 pm 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 Sunday evening at a 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.
Police arrested an adult male suspect, but Redfearn said he did not have additional information about the individual or those injured.
The incident comes roughly 10 days after a 31-year-old man was arrested for shooting and killing two Israeli diplomats 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.”
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.”
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——- 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.”
Redfearn said he could not confirm whether the pro-Israel 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. Redfearn added that the scene was not yet safe and that police were investigating a vehicle.
