A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A man is in custody following an attack on people at an event calling attention to Israeli hostages being held by Hamas.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Authorities say the man yelled, free Palestine, before using a makeshift flamethrower, sending several people to the hospital. He is, of course, expected to face charges. Mark Michalek is the FBI special agent in charge of the Denver Field Office.
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MARK MICHALEK: As a result of these preliminary facts, it is clear that this is a targeted act of violence, and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism. Sadly, attacks like this are becoming too common across the country. This is an example of how perpetrators of violence continue to threaten communities across our nation.
MARTÍNEZ: Colorado Public Radio has been covering the attack. With us now is editor Megan Verlee. So, Megan, what was happening that led up to this attack?
MEGAN VERLEE, BYLINE: So the group that was attacked is the local chapter of what's known as Run for Their Lives. These are groups that walk weekly to keep the attention on the hostages. And in Boulder, they walk up a pedestrian mall and stop at the courthouse to sing and to recite names. And this week, when they did that, they were met by a shirtless man holding homemade incendiary devices, who yelled at the walkers and apparently set some of them on fire.
MARTÍNEZ: What do we know about the victims?
VERLEE: Well, eight people were injured by the latest count, two seriously enough to be airlifted to a hospital near Denver. And they were aged 52 to 88. Organizers have told other news outlets that one of them was a Holocaust survivor. And as you can imagine, this has really shaken and horrified the Jewish community in Boulder and the wider community, as well.
MARTÍNEZ: Sure. Now, the FBI released the name of the person who was arrested last night. What can you tell us about him?
VERLEE: At this point, not much more than his name. He's 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman of Colorado Springs. Authorities think that he acted on his own, but we haven't been able to learn all that much more about him so far.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So what have the reactions been to this attack so far?
VERLEE: Well, there was swift condemnation, of course. Colorado's attorney general called it a hate crime. Our governor, who's Jewish, noted that it occurred hours before the start of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. And for some of the people we talked to in the Jewish community, what we really heard was this feeling that they wanted to say they were surprised by what happened. But after the killing of Israeli embassy workers in D.C. last month and the attack on the governor's mansion in Pennsylvania, they just weren't surprised in that same way. That's certainly what we heard from Stefanie Clarke. She's one of the leaders of Stop Antisemitism Colorado.
STEFANIE CLARKE: The reason things like this are happening is because we have allowed this climate of hate to fester, and today it boiled over.
VERLEE: Also the reaction goes way beyond Colorado. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement this morning saying he, his wife and the people of Israel are praying for the recovery of the victims. And Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, said, in Boulder, Colorado, Jewish people marched with a moral and humane demand to return the hostages. In response, the Jewish protesters were brutally attacked. Make no mistake, this is not a political protest. This is terrorism.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, that's Colorado Public Radio's Megan Verlee. Megan, thanks.
VERLEE: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF KAKI KING'S "CAN THE GWOT SAVE US?") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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