BOULDER, Colo. — Sunday’s attack on a group of Jewish Coloradans is not the first incident of mass violence in Boulder. The King Soopers shooting that killed ten people, including a police officer, occurred four years ago.
Boulder County Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann addressed how leaders can address growing safety concerns and fear of other acts of violence perpetrated within the community.
“If everyone today could watch this news and then go talk to your neighbor and just check in with them and see how they're doing. That would be a great start,” Stolzmann said. “Once you meet people and start talking to them, that is the way that we heal. That is the way that we support each other.”
Following the King Soopers shooting, Boulder leaders passed a series of laws restricting access to guns to increase safety, but some have faced legal challenges. Then in April, Governor Polis signed Senate Bill 3 into law, which addressed major issues that state Democrats said were revealed by the King Soopers shooting.
Sunday’s attack, though, didn’t involve a gun. It involved a man, with an expired visa, who perpetrated an antisemitic attack by setting fire to a group of people spreading peaceful awareness.
After an email from a viewer saying Boulder’s policies on immigration made the community unsafe, Denver7 asked the commissioner if she thought the county’s stance on migration opens the door to the possibility of increased violent acts. She said the question was divisive. When pushed for an answer, though, she quickly denounced antisemitism and bigotry and said this.
“It really should be a bipartisan effort to address the broken immigration system. But we will not fight hate with hate,” Stolzmann said. “You fight hate with love. You fight hate with kindness, with community members, connecting with people feeling part of something, not othered or pushed aside based on the country they come from, or their religion or creator culture.”
On Friday, the County Commissioners released a letter responding to the Trump Administration’s list designating the county as a sanctuary jurisdiction.
In the letter, commissioners said Boulder County “follows federal immigration law” and is “proud of that moniker.”
After a response from the National Sheriff’s Association, the Department of Homeland Security took that list down.
