A makeshift flamethrower erupted Sunday afternoon at Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, injuring eight people ages 52 to 88 — some with unexplained burns — during a peaceful rally for Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Witnesses say 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman emerged shirtless behind a crowd chanting for the hostages, throwing incendiary bottles and spraying fuel in a rope of fire.
He then reemerged to launch another device before police subdued him. Soliman was treated for burns and booked on terrorism charges.
The attack coincided with Shavuot, one of Judaism’s holiest days, and came less than a week after a man shouting “Free Palestine” fatally shot two Israeli diplomats outside Washington’s Jewish History Museum.
FBI leaders immediately labeled Boulder’s assault an ideologically motivated act, prompting nationwide alerts and heightened security at synagogues and Jewish centers.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
