Police say man taken into custody after attack in Boulder, Colorado

Описание: Eight people calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza were injured at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado, by a man who police say used a makeshift flamethrower and hurled an incendiary device into a crowd.

The FBI immediately described the violence as a “targeted terror attack.”

The suspect, identified by the FBI as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, yelled “Free Palestine” during the Sunday attack on the group of demonstrators, said Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office.

Soliman was arrested and taken to the hospital for treatment, but authorities didn’t elaborate on his injuries.

Authorities said the attacker targeted demonstrators with a volunteer group called Run for Their Lives, which organizes run and walk events to call for the immediate release of the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza since they were captured by militants during the incursion into southern Israel that started the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.

The group had gathered at the Pearl Street pedestrian mall, a four-block area in downtown Boulder frequented by tourists and students.

The injuries authorities found were consistent with reports of people being set on fire, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said, adding that injuries ranged from serious to minor.

Redfearn told reporters Sunday evening that it was too early to discuss a motive but that witnesses were being interviewed.

“It would be irresponsible for me to speculate on motive this early on,” he said.

The Israel-Hamas war has inflamed global tensions and contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States.