‘Palestine is free’: FBI investigates ‘targeted terror attack’ in Boulder, Colorado

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating what it called a “targeted terror attack” in Boulder, Colorado, after a group of Jewish protesters calling for the release of Israeli hostages was attacked on Sunday.

Police work at the scene after an attack that injured multiple people in Boulder, Colorado, U.S. June 1, 2025 in a still image from video. (via REUTERS)

“We are aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado,” FBI chief Kash Patel said on X (formerly Twitter).

According to local media, eyewitnesses described a man throwing an object resembling a homemade Molotov cocktail at participants in a weekly demonstration demanding the return of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.

Boulder Police chief Steve Redfearn said, “It’s way too early to speculate motive,” when asked if it was a terror attack targeting the protest.

A video from the scene shows a shirtless man with spray bottles in hand, pacing as flames burn on the grass. He is heard shouting: “End Zionists!”, “Palestine is free!”, and “They are killers!” toward people in red T-shirts tending to an injured person.

Protesters set on fire in suspected terror attack

“Initial callers indicated that there was a man with a weapon and that people were being set on fire,” Redfearn told reporters. “When we arrived, we encountered multiple victims that were injured, with injuries consistent with burns and other injuries.”

He confirmed the suspect was taken into custody on the spot without incident.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said it was aware of an attack at the Boulder Run for Their Lives event — a weekly gathering of Jewish community members supporting hostages captured during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York condemned the violence, saying, “Terrorism against Jews does not stop at the Gaza border — it is already burning the streets of America.”

“Today, in Boulder, Colorado, Jewish people marched with a moral and humane demand: to return the hostages. In response, the Jewish protesters were brutally attacked, with an attacker throwing Molotov cocktails at them,” he said.

“Make no mistake — this is not a political protest, this is terrorism,” he added.

With AFP inputs