Advocates for Israeli hostages in Gaza injured in fire attack in Colorado

Multiple people were injured when an attacker used an incendiary device on demonstrators in Colorado who were marching to buoy awareness of hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza.

FBI Director Kash Patel on X called the incident “a targeted terror attack.”

The state’s attorney general, Phil Weiser, whose mother was born in a concentration camp and whose grandparents survived the Holocaust, characterized the attack as appearing to be “a hate crime given the group that was targeted.”

Weiser said in the same statement Sunday afternoon that his office was ready to support local prosecutors when the time comes to file any possible charges.

The group Run for Their Lives – Boulder has been holding the demonstrations fairly regularly, sometimes weekly, since Thanksgiving 2023, following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the group has said.

Boulder, Colorado, Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said a suspect was in custody following the afternoon violence and had suffered minor injuries that required hospitalization.

Redfern described what dispatchers were told about the attack in front of the historic Boulder County Courthouse at 1:26 p.m.: “There was a man with a weapon and … people were being set on fire.”

The suspect’s name was not released. People were being asked to stay away from downtown Boulder as police check out a vehicle that may have been associated with the attack, Redfearn said.

“The area is not safe yet,” he said.

He said FBI agents were at the scene assisting police with the investigation.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino echoed Patel’s assessment of the attack, saying on X, “We are investigating this incident as an act of terror, and targeted violence. All of the necessary assets will be dedicated to this investigation.”

A joint statement from multiple Boulder Jewish organizations and congregations did not address possible motive. But it did note that the Jewish community has experienced similar events in recent memory.

“When events like this enter our own community, we are shaken,” the organizations said. “Our hope is that we come together for one another.”

They said “an incendiary device was thrown at walkers at the Run for Their Lives walk.” But they also said details were unknown.

“Our hearts go out to those who witnessed this horrible attack, and prayers for a speedy recovery to those who were injured,” the statement read.

Redfearn said it’s too early to say if the group supporting the release of hostages was specifically targeted or if it was an act of terror.

“It’s way too early to speculate motive,” the chief said.

According to a notice for a February event by Run for Their Lives, “This is an ongoing event. We will continue to walk until all hostages are released.”

Run for Their Lives said in a press kit that it “started for the sole reason of advocating for the release of the hostages. … We set our principles very specifically to be a safe, quiet, peaceful, inclusive of all religions, non-political global initiative.”

Group members in Boulder did not immediately respond to request for comment.

During and after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, more than 250 hostages were taken, and a few were already being held by the militant group. Today, following multiple waves of releases and several deaths, 23 are believed to be alive.

Brooke Coffman was walking down Pearl Street while on her lunch break Sunday when she saw a commotion near the courthouse. Worried someone was “getting beat up,” she approached the area.

Then, “I saw this big fire go up,” Coffman told NBC News Affiliate 9News in Denver.

Coffman said she called 911 as she rushed toward the fiery scene.

When there, she said she saw two women “rolling around a little bit” in their underwear after stripping out of their burning clothes with “really bad burns all up on their legs.” Another woman nearby, also with burns on her legs, was screaming.

Coffman could barely make out the face of one of the women, she said, choking up, adding the woman’s hair was burnt off.

“It just wasn’t a good scene,” Coffman said.

Others nearby rushed to the scene with jugs of water, dousing the victims, Coffman said. She said she saw at least seven people down, mostly older women, but said she heard there were more victims, including children.

She said she saw a shirtless man, presumably the suspect, screaming while waving a glass bottle that contained a liquid.

“I know it’s Boulder, it’s Pearl Street, some stuff happens … but you just don’t really think it’s going to happen right here, you don’t think it’s something you’re going to see, so many people hurt” and someone do that to other people, Coffman told 9News.