Eight people have been injured, including an 88 year-old Holocaust survivor, at an event in support of Israeli hostages in Colorado, after they were attacked by a man with a makeshift flamethrower and petrol bombs.
The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, shouted “free Palestine” as he threw Molotov cocktails and used a makeshift flamethrower on demonstrators in the western US state.
Four women and four men aged between 52 and 88 were injured and transported to hospitals in what the FBI described as a “suspected act of terrorism. At least one of person is in a critical condition.
Onlookers said Soliman shouted “free Palestine” during the attack as he attempted to set people alight.
Eyewitness captures video of Colorado attack scene X
Police say they are “fairly confident” he acted alone as the incident took place as the Colorado community celebrated the festival of Shavuot.
CBS News reported that in 2022, Soliman arrived in California on a non-immigrant visa that expired in February 2023, and that he had recently been living in Colorado Springs.
One of the people who was injured in the attack is a Holocaust survivor, Rabbi Israel Wilhelm,88, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said he is “shocked” by the incident and called the attack “pure antisemitism”.
“This is pure Antisemitism, fueled by the blood libels spread in the media,” he wrote on X. ” I spoke with our Ambassador in the US and our Consul General in LA.
“I pray for those who were wounded in the attack.”
Oren Segal from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) told the BBC News Channel the attack was “completely shocking” and an “attack on the Jewish community”.
The group Run for Their Lives hold weekly vigils in support of the hostages in North America and elsewhere across the globe, and describe their events as “peaceful walks”.
Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett says he is saddened and outraged by the “appalling attack”.
“I want to be clear that violence and hatred have no place here.
“Attacks like these seek to strike terror in people’s hearts and divide us from one another, but Boulder will stand strong together,” he wrote in a post on X.
Local police chief Stephen Redfearn confirmed victims in the attack range in age from 67 to 88 years old.
He said at least one of the victims was seriously injured and is in critical condition.
“Our thoughts are heavily focused on their recovery,” he said.
