BOULDER, Colo. — Many people carried flowers or Israeli flags to the historic Boulder County Courthouse on Monday, one day after 12 people were injured in what is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
On Sunday afternoon, the local group from the organization Run For Their Lives held its weekly walk to bring attention to the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The Boulder group walks every Sunday and planned to do so at 1 p.m. at the corner of 8th and Pearl streets. Sunday was the start of the Jewish holiday Shavuot.
The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, of Colorado Springs, is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails into the crowd of demonstrating people, injuring 12 of them, and yelling "Free Palestine," according to a federal arrest affidavit Denver7 obtained and Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. A state arrest affidavit added that witnesses saw him using a commercial weed sprayer filled with a flammable substance as a makeshift blowtorch.
Nobody was killed in the incident, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has labeled a “targeted terror attack.”
Soliman is being held on multiple state felony charges, including 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, six counts of first-degree assault against an at-risk victim, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of possession of an incendiary device and 16 counts of attempted possession of an incendiary device. In addition to the state charges, he has been charged with a federal hate crime, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
These charges may change, authorities said.
"I stand here today in strong support of our Jewish community and the Boulder community, and I'm united with federal prosecutors, local and federal law enforcement, in standing against hate and antisemitism and any violence anywhere," Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told Denver7 on Monday.
Dougherty said in cases involving mass violence, it is not unusual for federal and state prosecutors to work together, whether it be behind the scenes or jointly in the prosecution.
"What I would say is noteworthy about Boulder County and the State of Colorado is the relationships between the federal prosecutors and state prosecutors is really strong," Dougherty said. "We rely on the strength of those relationships and the tragic experiences we've been entrusted to work on together in the past, making sure we do the right thing here."
- Watch the full interview with District Attorney Michael Dougherty in the video player below:
The Boulder County District Attorney's Office said, as in every criminal case, "these charges are merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty."
Dougherty said he hopes that the city and surrounding areas rally around the Jewish community and the victims of the attack.
"We've seen that before, through the fires, the floods, and King Soopers, and I'm hoping, expecting, and quite frankly, asking the Boulder community to once again do that with and for one another," Dougherty said. "Boulder and the State of Colorado, quite frankly, have faced too many tragedies, and from those experiences, I'm hoping we continue to come together and do everything we can to prevent them in the future and also make sure we respond together."
- JEWISHcolorado has set up a fund to help those who were injured in Sunday's attack. If you'd like to donate, follow this link.
Two people drawn to Pearl Street Mall on Monday were Troy and Vickie Gottlieb, who came from Greeley.
"It's Jewish tradition, if you're close, to go and pray over an area that has experienced pain and violence and pray that God would just bring His peace back to that area," Troy said.
The two said the attack has a way of robbing them of their sense of security. They are left with a profound desire for justice, not revenge.
"If there is no consequence, then this will just happen again and again and again," Troy said. "So justice and hope that maybe, as we pray, we can learn to get along."
One of the individuals who was injured in the attack is a Holocaust survivor, Denver7 has learned. Tim Roper, a filmmaker who recently worked on a documentary called "For the Living," said he met the survivor during a film screening earlier this year. Roper is not naming the person due to security and privacy reasons.
"The common denominator I see amongst [Holocaust survivors] who have seen the worst that humanity can dish out, is they are some of the most loving, big-hearted, joyful people you've ever met," Roper said. "You would think they would be consumed with things like bitterness and revenge. It's not the case, and this person is in that same theme."
"For the Living" follows a cycling event that begins at Auschwitz-Birkenau and goes to Krakow, Poland. The path retraces the route of a Holocaust survivor, who was only 10 years old when he made the original 60-mile journey on foot through an active war zone.
Roper said the film explores how dehumanizing different groups can affect one's ability to feel empathy.
"We're trying to open hearts and minds and to get people to realize just how susceptible we all are to thinking and feeling this way, even if none of us ever act on it," Roper explained.
- Below is a map of 2024 antisemitic incidents in Colorado. Locations are broken down by city — locations are not exact.
When asked about the attack in Boulder, Roper said he sees patterns between what happened along Pearl Street Mall and the concepts he analyzed within the documentary.
"To all of a sudden come home and have that smack you in the face in your hometown, something in that same malicious, disgusting pattern. It really, it's unnerving," Roper said. "The universal becomes personal, and that's when it really, it kind of hits you in the heart and in the gut."
Denver7 also spoke with Susanne Reyto, a Holocaust survivor currently living in California, about the attack in Boulder.
"Any Holocaust survivor must have gone through incredible torture and deplorable conditions of living, no matter how long it was, and for that person to relieve this kind of hatred 80 years after the first time he or she experienced it, it's really mind-boggling, tragic and outrageous," Reyto said. "It's very, very sad that this person couldn't live in peace and harmony 80 years after she or he went through the horrors of the Holocaust."
