Eight hurt in Colorado fire attack after suspect shouts ‘free Palestine’
Multiple people have been injured after a man shouting “free Palestine” tossed Molotov cocktails at a gathering in support of Israeli hostages in Colorado, authorities say.
Police said eight people – aged 52 to 88 – were injured in the attack at the Pearl Street Mall, a popular outdoor space in Boulder, about 30 miles (48km) from Denver.
The FBI called it a suspected terror attack and said the suspect used a makeshift flamethrower, Molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices.
Footage of the attack shows the suspect, who was shirtless, screaming at the group and had what appears to be Molotov cocktails in each hand when he was arrested.
The attack unfolded during a weekly scheduled demonstration put on by Run for Their Lives, a pro-Israeli group that holds walks in the outdoor pedestrian mall in solidarity with Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Police got calls around 13:26 local time (19:26 GMT) about a man with a weapon and people being set on fire, Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said at a news conference.
Officers who responded found multiple people injured, including those with burns.
One of the people hurt in the attack was a Holocaust survivor, according to Rabbi Israel Wilhelm, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Speaking to the BBC’s US partner CBS News, Wilhelm described the 88-year-old as a “very loving person”.
The attack is the second high-profile act of violence in the US in the last two weeks that appears to be related to the conflict in Gaza.
A man who shouted “free Palestine” fatally shot two Israeli embassy employees outside a Jewish museum in Washington DC on 22 May. The incident happened at a networking event organised by a Jewish organisation.
After Sunday’s incident, witnesses told authorities that the suspect used a “makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd,” said Mark Michalek, who heads the FBI’s Denver office.
Redfearn added that those devices included Molotov cocktails, which he said were tossed at the crowd.
Mr Michalek identified the suspect as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45.
He is an Egyptian national, government officials told CBS. In 2022, Mr Soliman arrived in California on a non-immigrant visa that expired in February 2023, multiple sources told the broadcaster. He had been living in Colorado Springs.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said Mr Soliman had been given a work permit after his visa expired under the previous administration of President Joe Biden. The BBC has not verified this. (BBC)
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