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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday condemned the attack on pro-Israel demonstrators in Colorado, which he said was a result of "blood libels against the Jewish state and people."
At least eight people were hurt, one critically, when they were attacked by a man using a makeshift blowtorch and hurling Molotov cocktails, causing some to catch on fire, during an event organized by Run for Their Lives, an organization devoted to drawing attention to the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since the October 7 massacre.
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An Israeli flag at the scene of an attack targeting pro-Israel demonstrators in Bourlder, Colorado
(Photo: Mark Makela / Reuters)
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Boulder police arrest a suspect in the terror attack against pro-Israel marchers
(Photo: via X)
The attack took place on the Pearl Street Mall, a popular pedestrian shopping district in the shadow of the University of Colorado. In a statement, the group said the walks have been held every week since then for the hostages, "without any violent incidents until today."
Netnayhay said the victims were attacked "simply because they were Jews" and that he trusted U.S. authorities would prosecute "the cold-blooded perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law."
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In a post to X, a social network, Stephen Miller, U. S. President Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff, said the suspect, identified as a 45-year-old Egyptian national, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, had overstayed his visa and been allowed to work by the previous administration. He said it was further evidence of the need to "fully reverse" what he described as "suicidal migration."
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An Israeli flag after the suspected terror attack in Boulder, Colorado
(Photo: Kevin Mohatt / Reuters)
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a prominent Jewish Democrat, said it was an antisemitic attack. "This is horrifying, and this cannot continue. We must stand up to antisemitism," he said on X. The attack follows last month's arrest of a Chicago-born man in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C. Someone opened fire on a group of people leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.
The shooting fueled polarization in the United States over the war in Gaza between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.