The FBI and law enforcement in Colorado are investigating a possible act of terrorism after multiple people attending a weekly pro-Israel gathering in Boulder to honor hostages kidnapped by Hamas were attacked by a suspect seen throwing Molotov cocktails in their direction. 

FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X that the bureau was “fully investigating” what he described as a “targeted terror attack” in Boulder on Sunday, while FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said they were probing the incident as an “act of terror, and targeted violence” while asking for anyone with information to contact the bureau.

One person was arrested after throwing a Molotov cocktail towards the pro-Israel demonstrators, according to Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn. Speaking to reporters from the scene of the attack, Redfearn said authorities were called to the area responding to calls “that people were being set on fire” by “a man with a weapon.” 

Redfearn also said that victims, attendees of the weekly Boulder Run for Their Lives event calling for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, had “injuries consistent with burns and other injuries,” though he could not provide an estimate for the number of individuals who were harmed in the attack. 

He warned that some of those injuries could be life threatening. At a Sunday evening press conference, Redfearn said the victims ranged in age from 67 to 88 years old, “at least one” of whom “was very seriously injured, probably safe to say, [in] critical condition.” The 88 year old victim fled Nazi persecution in Europe, Rabbi Yisroel Wilhelm, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado Boulder, told CBS Colorado.

At a press conference Sunday, FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mike Michalek identified the suspect as Mohamed Sabry Soliman. Fox News reported that Soliman is an “Egyptian national in the U.S. illegally as a visa overstay who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration,” citing senior Department of Homeland Security officials. 

Soliman arrived in the U.S. in August 2022 on a visa that expired in February 2023, filing a claim with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in September 2022 for a work visa that was approved for a two-year period in March 2023. He remained in the U.S. illegally despite his work authorization expiring in March of this year.

Videos circulating on social media of the attack showed Soliman shouting “end Zionists.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, said in a post on X that he was “closely monitoring the situation in Boulder” and said that his state was working “with local and federal law enforcement to support this investigation.”

In a second statement on his personal account, Polis wrote that, “As the American Jewish community continues to reel from the horrific antisemitic murders in Washington, D.C., it is unfathomable that the Jewish community is facing another terror attack here in Boulder, on the eve of the holiday of Shavuot no less.”

“Several individuals were brutally attacked while peacefully marching to draw attention to the plight of the hostages who have been held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for 604 days. I condemn this vicious act of terrorism, and pray for the recovery of the victims,” he continued.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), who is running to replace the term-limited Polis, described the incident as a “horrifying terror attack” in a statement posted to X. “My thoughts are with the victims of the horrifying terror attack that occurred this afternoon in Boulder. Hate and violence of any kind will not be tolerated in Colorado,” Bennet wrote.

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) wrote on the platform that, “Hate of any kind has no home in Colorado. We’re monitoring the reports of a horrific terror attack in Boulder this afternoon. Our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also said that he was “closely monitoring the situation in Boulder,” adding, “This is horrifying, and this cannot continue. We must stand up to antisemitism.”

A White House official said late Sunday that President Donald Trump “has been briefed” on the attack.

The attack comes less than two weeks after the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers attending an American Jewish Committee event in Washington. The alleged shooter yelled “Free Palestine” shortly after committing the crime.

In April, during the first night of Passover, an arsonist tried to burn down Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence. The perpetrator cited the governor’s support for Israel as his motive.   

Antisemitic violence struck at the heart of the nation’s capital on Wednesday evening when an assailant shot and killed two Israeli embassy employees outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum for young diplomats and Jewish professionals hosted by the American Jewish Committee.

“Two staff members of the Israeli embassy were shot this evening at close range while attending a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC,” embassy spokesperson Tal Naim Cohen said in a statement. “We have full faith in law enforcement authorities on both the local and federal levels to apprehend the shooter and protect Israel’s representatives and Jewish communities throughout the United States.”

Officials said there was no ongoing threat to public safety and that a suspect had been arrested.

“American Jewish Committee (AJC) can confirm that we hosted an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. this evening,” AJC CEO Ted Deutch said in a statement. “We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue. At this moment, as we await more information from the police about exactly what transpired, our attention and our hearts are solely with those who were harmed and their families.”

President Donald Trump said in a statement, “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”

D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said that a man and woman were killed in the incident. Israeli Ambassador Michael Leiter said that the two victims were a young couple and embassy employees who were planning to get engaged next week in Jerusalem — the man purchased a ring earlier this week.

Eyewitness Paige Siegel, who was a guest at the event, told Jewish Insider that she heard two sets of multiple shots ring out, and then an individual, who police have since identified as suspected shooter Elias Rodriguez, entered the building appearing disoriented and panicked, seconds after the shooting ended. She said security allowed the man in, as well as two other women separately.

Siegel said she spoke to the man, asking him if he had been shot. He appeared panicked and was mumbling and repeatedly told bystanders to call the police. Siegel said that she felt the man was suspicious.

JoJo Drake Kalin, a member of AJC’s DC Young Professional Board and an organizer of the event, also told JI the man appeared disheveled and out of breath when he entered the building. Kalin assumed he had been a bystander to the shooting who needed assistance and she handed him a glass of water.

Siegel said that the man was sitting in the building in a state of distress for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, and she and a friend engaged him in conversation, informing him that he was in the Jewish museum.

After Siegel said that, she said the man started screaming, “I did it, I did it. Free Palestine. I did it for Gaza,” and opened a backpack, withdrawing a red Keffiyeh. She said that an officer, who had already arrived, detained the man and took him outside. She said that she subsequently saw security footage of Rodriguez shooting the female and identified the shooter as the same individual. Kalin said that some attendees stayed for several hours at the museum into the night to be debriefed by police.

A short video obtained by JI showed an individual in the lobby of the museum chanting “Free, free Palestine” being detained by police and removed from the building.

A video obtained by Jewish Insider shows the suspected shooter, identified by police as Elias Rodriguez, in the lobby of the Capital Jewish Museum chanting “free, free Palestine” as he is detained by police and removed from the building.

Full story: https://t.co/ZGZBj9agQx pic.twitter.com/zZUbTvovFm

— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) May 22, 2025

Smith said in a press conference that the suspect, Rodriguez, a 30-year-old from Chicago, opened fire on a group of four outside the museum, and then entered the building and was detained by event security. Smith said that Rodriguez, once in custody, implied that he carried out the shooting and chanted “free, free Palestine.”

Smith said Rodriguez had been pacing outside the event before the altercation.

Leiter said that he had spoken to President Donald Trump, who vowed that the administration would do everything it can to fight antisemitism and demonization and delegitimization of Israel.

“We’ll stand together tall and firm and confront this moral depravity without fear,” Leiter said.

Smith said that police would coordinate with local Jewish organizations to ensure sufficient security. She said police had not received any intelligence warning of the attack.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “we will not tolerate antisemitism,” and said the city would continue to assist Jewish organizations with security grants.

FBI officials and Attorney General Pam Bondi and interim U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro joined the response alongside D.C. police.

“We are a resilient people. The people of Israel are a resilient people. The people of the United States of America are a resilient people. Together, we won’t be afraid. Together we will stand and overcome moral depravity of people who think they’re going to achieve political gains through murder,” Leiter said. 

According to an invitation to the event viewed by JI, the event planned to discuss efforts to respond to humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa, including in Gaza.

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, described the shooting as a “depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told JI, “I’ve been informed of the tragic shooting that occurred outside of the Capitol Jewish Museum tonight in Washington D.C. We are monitoring the situation as more details become known and lifting up the victim’s families in our prayers.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a post, “This sickening shooting seems to be another horrific instance of antisemitism which as we know is all too rampant in our society.”

Richard Priem, the CEO of the Community Security Service, told eJewishPhilanthropy that there are still “so many unknowns” about the shooting, namely if it was a sophisticated attack specifically targeting Israeli Embassy staff or an attack more generally against the Jewish event itself. In any case, the organization called for “increased situational awareness” at Jewish institutions going forward, particularly ahead of Shabbat.

“Anytime there’s an attack, certain people get activated and think, ’Now’s the time,’” Priem said. “But we don’t know yet if there might be a direct correlated threat.”

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross contributed reporting