Colorado flamethrower attack injures six at pro-Israel rally

Six elderly people were injured Sunday when a man used a makeshift flamethrower to attack demonstrators in the US state of Colorado as they demanded the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The FBI called the assault a "targeted terror attack," identifying the suspected perpetrator, who has been taken into custody, as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, but providing no further details about him.

The White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, posted on X that the man was a foreign national who "illegally overstayed (his) visa."

Police in the city of Boulder were cautious in presuming a possible motive for the attack, which multiple sources said was committed against Jews during a peaceful gathering.

The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish activist group, said on X that the attack occurred at Sunday's "Boulder Run for Their Lives" event, a weekly gathering of the Jewish community in support of the hostages seized during Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the war in Gaza.

"This attack happened at a regularly scheduled weekly peaceful event," FBI agent Mark Michalek confirmed to reporters.

"Witnesses are reporting that the subject used a makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary into the crowd," he said, adding that "the suspect was heard to yell: "Free Palestine!"

- Molotov cocktails -

In one video apparently of the attack, a shirtless man holding clear bottles in his hands is seen pacing as the grass in front of him burns.

He can be heard screaming "End Zionists!" and "They are killers!" towards several people in red t-shirts as they tend to a person lying on the ground.

Other images showed billowing black smoke.

The six people injured were aged between 67 and 88, and had all be transported to local hospitals, Michalek said.

Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn told reporters that "at least one victim was very seriously injured, probably safe to say critical condition."

The suspected perpetrator had also been injured before being taken into custody, Redfearn said.

He hailed the bravery of the responding officers, who "immediately ran into a chaotic situation where a man was throwing Molotov cocktails and using other devices to hurt people."

Asked if it was a terror attack against the protesters, Redfearn insisted it was "way too early to speculate motive" behind the violence, which took place shortly before 1:30 pm (1930 GMT).

There had initially been reports of a possible second perpetrator, but Redfearn stressed that "at this point, we do not believe that there is an additional suspect at large."

"We're fairly confident we have the lone suspect in custody."

FBI chief Kash Patel immediately described Sunday's incident as "a targeted terror attack," while Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser labeled it "a hate crime."

"People may have differing views about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences. Hate has no place in Colorado," Weiser said.

The White House said President Donald Trump has been briefed on the incident.

- 'Antisemitic attack' -

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, voiced outrage at the incident.

"Terrorism against Jews does not stop at the Gaza border -- it is already burning the streets of America," he said in a statement.

"Make no mistake -- this is not a political protest, this is terrorism."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio like Patel described the incident as a "targeted terror attack," while lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle expressed revulsion at Sunday's tragedy and said they were praying for the victims' recovery.

"Tonight, a peaceful demonstration was targeted in a vile, antisemitic act of terror," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said in a statement. "Once again, Jews are left reeling from repeated acts of violence and terror.

Several organizations also decried the apparent hate-fueled violence.

"Our community was targeted in a violent, antisemitic attack," the Israeli-American Council said in a statement.

"This is an attack on all of us -- and we will not stay silent."

The Boulder violence comes almost two weeks after the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, where a 31-year-old suspect who shouted "Free Palestine" was taken into custody by police.