Six people were injured on Sunday when a 45-year-old man shouted "Freedom for Palestine" and threw incendiary devices at a crowd in Boulder, Colorado, where a demonstration was being held in memory of Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza, authorities said, UNN reports citing Reuters.
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The six victims, aged 67 to 88, were taken to hospitals, said FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Denver Field Office Mark Michalek. According to authorities, at least one of them was in critical condition.
"As a result of these preliminary facts, it is clear that this is a targeted act of violence, and the FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism," Michalek said.
Michalek identified the suspect as Mohamed Soliman, who was hospitalized shortly after the attack.
FBI Director Kash Patel also called the incident a "targeted terrorist attack," and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said it was a "hate crime, given the group that was targeted." Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfern said he did not believe anyone else was involved.
"We are quite confident that the only suspect is in custody," he said.
The attack took place on Pearl Street Mall, a popular pedestrian shopping area in the shadow of the University of Colorado, during an event organized by Run for Their Lives to raise awareness of the hostages taken after the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X that he was shocked by the "terrible anti-Semitic terrorist attack," describing it as "pure anti-Semitism."
The incident occurred amid heightened tensions in the United States over Israel's war in Gaza, which has led to both a rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes and actions by conservative supporters of Israel led by President Donald Trump, who have called pro-Palestinian protests anti-Semitic, the publication writes. His administration, the publication notes, detained anti-war protesters without charges and cut funding to elite U.S. universities that allowed such demonstrations.
In a post on social media X, Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said that Soliman had overstayed his visa and was allowed to work by the previous administration. He said this is further evidence of the need to "completely abolish" what he called "suicidal migration."