Twelve demonstrators were injured Sunday when a man used a “makeshift flamethrower” and an incendiary device in a targeted attack on a crowd on Boulder’s Pearl Street.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, is suspected in the attack, which happened as demonstrators gathered as part of the international volunteer group Run for Their Lives.
A spokesperson for the group told Denver7 its mission is to raise awareness for hostages held in captivity in Gaza. Sunday’s walk took place on the start of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
"Run for Their Lives is a peaceful, non-political initiative to raise awareness for the hostages," said Omer Shacha, the co-leader of the Denver and Boulder Run for Their Lives groups. "We're just sharing solidarity with the hostages that are now being in Gaza under the tunnels by Hamas."
- 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.
He said 58 hostages are still being held. The Colorado walks have taken place weekly since November of 2023, a few weeks after the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023 that launched the war in Gaza.
The Denver group gathers at Washington Park. Pearl Street is the regular meeting place for the Boulder group.
"People already know us," Shacha said. "We are doing it every week, doesn't matter the weather – if it's snow, if it's rain, hot, we are always there."
He said people of all ages gather as part of the demonstrations, including children and elderly participants. At least eight of the victims in Sunday's attack were between the ages of 52 and 88 years old and included a Holocaust survivor.
As many as a couple dozen people typically turn out for the demonstrations, but the number can vary, Shacha said.
According to its website, Run for Their Lives gathers weekly for one-kilometer walks. The site lists safety recommendations for participants, including: “Don’t protest!” It also directs demonstrators avoid disturbing neighbors, “focus on humanity” and to carry flags of any nation where hostages are being held.
- Watch Denver7 team coverage of the attack, the reaction and what comes next, in the video player below:
Sam King, who told Denver7 he regularly joins the group and was supposed to be part of Sunday’s demonstration, called it “a peaceful movement.”
“We don't want war, we never wanted this war,” he said. “We didn't start it and we want it to be over so that everybody can go back to being free.”
He said the marches are often organized through faith communities or through synagogues. He said many of the demonstrators are retirees.
"These aren't radicals," he said. "There's nobody running around with masks on screaming [...] we're not like that. And I think a lot of people really make this a moral equivalency where, 'Oh this side hates this side and this side hates this side' – we don't hate."
"I only hate anybody who wants to hurt me."