Man sets fire to people in pro-Israeli commemoration in Colorado, 8 injured

Man sets fire to people in pro-Israeli commemoration in Colorado, 8 injured

At least eight people were injured on Sunday in the US state of Colorado at a memorial for Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. A man had thrown incendiary devices at those present. One victim is in critical condition. The suspect has been arrested.

The incident occurred around 1:30 PM in Boulder, a city about 45 kilometers from Denver. According to American media, a 45-year-old man used a homemade flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to set people on fire. He reportedly shouted “Free Palestine“.

The victims are four men and four women between the ages of 52 and 88. They are in a nearby hospital in Denver, the FBI said at a press conference. One of the injured is a Holocaust survivor, reports CNN.

At the time of the attack, a weekly memorial for the Israeli hostages in Gaza was taking place in the busy center of Boulder. Run for Their Lives, the organization of that meeting, says the memorials had been peaceful for a year and a half. “Until today.”

The FBI is treating the case as an act of terrorism. According to the federal police service, it is a targeted act of violence. The arrested suspect is 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman. He was also taken to the hospital with injuries.

Suspect acted alone

According to local police, the attacker acted alone. CNN reports that he will be charged sometime in the coming days, likely at the federal level. The White House says that President Donald Trump has been informed of the incident.

Witnesses tell news agency Reuters that they saw several people with severe burns lying on the ground. A nineteen-year-old student tells the news agency that someone was wrapped in a flag to put out the fire.

Images show a screaming man without a shirt and wearing sunglasses holding a bottle with a clear liquid. According to BBC News, that is the suspect.

Extra security measures around Jewish holiday Shavuot

A week and a half before the attack, two employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington were shot dead. Since then, the debate surrounding the war in the Gaza Strip has been highly charged, American media report.

Prominent politicians sharply condemn the attack in Boulder. Governor Jared Polis of the state of Colorado calls it in a statement “incomprehensible that the Jewish community in Boulder is once again confronted with a terrorist attack”.

Sunday evening marked the start of the three-day Jewish holiday of Shavuot, in which Jews celebrate Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai. Police in Boulder say they are taking extra security measures for Shavuot. Police in New York are also extra alert, reports CNN.

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