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06_02_25_am_headlines Ainsley Coogan
Pearl Street attack
Authorities now say eight people were set on fire in an attack on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall Sunday afternoon.
The eight people were among a group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
Authorities at first said there were six victims, but raised that to eight last night. The FBI is calling the attack a “targeted act of violence,” and said that it’s being investigated as an act of terrorism, according to The Denver Post.
It happened just before 1:30 yesterday afternoon, during a weekly, peaceful demonstration by Boulder’s chapter of Run for Their Lives. That organization facilitates organized walks or runs and calls for “the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas,” according to its website.
Police arrested a 45-year-old El Paso County man outside of the Boulder County Courthouse, after witnesses pointed him out.
At a press conference several hours after the attack, Mark Michalek, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Denver Field Office, described what happened.
“ Witnesses are reporting that the subject used a makeshift flamethrower, and threw an incendiary device into the crowd. The suspect was heard to yell “Free Palestine” during the attack,” Michalek said.
The victims include four women and four men, ranging in age from 52 to 88. Police said that four were taken to the Boulder Community Health hospital, and at least two others were airlifted to the burn unit at UCHealth in Aurora. Their conditions are not public at this time.
The suspect was also hospitalized, before being booked into the Boulder County Jail on multiple charges. The exact charges are not yet known, but Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told the public last night that the suspect will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“What I would stress now most importantly, is we are fully united, 100%, in making sure the charges we bring hold the attacker fully accountable,” Dougherty said.
FBI officials said last night that agents are in El Paso County investigating the suspect.
Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said at the same press briefing that he is aware how frightening the tragedy can be to the public. He alluded to previous mass violence in Boulder and said the community has recovered before, and will recover again.
“I urge the community in this time to come together. Now is not the time to be divisive and we will continue to ensure community safety along with all of our partners,” he said.
Redfearn was asked whether police would increase security for Jewish people in Boulder. He said that once a clear motive has been established, police will act accordingly.
After the attacks, police blocked and issued evacuation orders for a wide area around Pearl Street as they processed the scene and examined a suspicious vehicle, according to Boulder Reporting Lab. That area remained closed as of last night, with business owners being directed to access their properties via the alleys to the north and south of Pearl St.
Sanctuary jurisdiction, BoCo commissioners statement
Boulder County Commissioners last night issued a statement condemning the attack at the Boulder County Courthouse. At the same time, they’ve also pushing back against the Trump administration, and a list of so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” made public last week.
That list includes Boulder County and hundreds of other state and local governments nationwide. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says they are obstructing Donald Trump’s efforts to identify and deport immigrants they say are “endangering Americans and … law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens.”
The Commissioners said in a statement issued Friday that the DHS claims about immigration are baseless and unsupported, and that they use inflammatory language meant to frighten people.
The commission also said the DHS language robs people of their humanity, and that if being a so-called sanctuary jurisdiction means supporting due process of law and human rights, then that is something to be proud of.
They added that unlike the Trump administration, they uphold their oaths of office and the United States Constitution.
The Commission’s statement ends by saying they will not be intimidated by bullying tactics that are meant to keep them from supporting those who are most in need. You can find a link to the full statement at kgnu.org.
Immigrant family arrested in Denver
The city’s push against the federal government comes as immigrant rights advocates are denouncing the arrest of a family of three, who were taken into custody as they left Denver Immigration Court last week.
The Denver Post says six federal agents stopped and arrested a man, a woman, and their one-year-old child last Thursday, as they left an immigration hearing pertaining to their case.
An attorney for the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network told the Post that the judge had just dismissed the removal case against the three, which ordinarily would mean that the government is no longer trying to deport them.
Managing attorney Emily Brock was with the family at the time of their arrest. She told the Post that after the agents stopped the family, they prevented her from talking to them about their rights. She said the family was shocked, and the terrified child clung to his father as the family was taken to an immigration center in Centennial for processing.
The Post says arresting immigrants at immigration courts is part of a new Trump administration strategy. Critics are calling it unnecessary and unprecedented.
Boulder County Courthouse historic landmark designation
A ceremony at the Boulder County Courthouse Friday celebrated its designation as a National Historic Landmark.
The courthouse was recognized for its role in LGBTQ+ history.
Mardi Moore, CEO of the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Equality, was among those at the event.
“This building was the place where the first same sex marriages licenses were issued 50 years ago, and the federal government acknowledges that, and it’s ours and it’s here in our community, and it’s something that will be here forever,” Moore said.
The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide a decade ago. But Moore says that ruling could be vulnerable, under the current, more conservative Supreme Court.
”If you don’t work for your rights, you’ll lose your rights,” she said. “And so we continue to monitor what’s happening at the Supreme Court, what cases are going up, what’s happening around the country. They’ve tried to remove same sex marriage rights, I believe in Montana and Idaho this year. They were unsuccessful and yet those people are still there.”
Then-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland approved the courthouse’s landmark designation in December of 2024.
Second challenge to new CO trans law
The Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF, has filed a lawsuit against Colorado’s new protections for transgender individuals.
This is the second lawsuit filed against House Bill 1312, which Gov. Polis just recently signed into law.
The latest suit by ADF argues that 1312 violates citizens’ and businesses’ First Amendment rights, by requiring businesses to address customers by their chosen name and preferred gender identity.
ADF uses XX-XY Athletics, a business that advocates against transgender athlete participation, as an example for their case. ADF’s senior counsel Hal Frampton told Colorado Politics that because the athletic company’s “core message is about biological reality and about the impact that has on women’s sports,” 1312 prevents them from “get[ting] out their full message.”
ADF added that this bill could put the company, and others like it, at risk of facing cease and desist orders, expensive investigations, and civil and criminal penalties.
HB 1312 amends the Colorado Antidiscrimination Act to make misgendering and deadnaming people illegal. A sponsor of the bill, Sen. Faith Winter, described it during the legislative session as a way to affirm that mistreating transgender individuals is discrimination.
More CO measles cases
Two cases of measles reported last week have been traced to a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul that landed at the Denver International Airport. The recent cases bring the total reported this year to seven.
Both cases, an adult and a child, were passengers on Turkish Airlines Flight 201, which landed at DIA on May 13. The adult was vaccinated against the disease, according to The Colorado Sun. The toddler was unvaccinated and hospitalized as a result of the disease.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) requests that anyone who was present on that flight and develops symptoms should contact their local public health agency. Symptoms for measles tend to develop between 7 and 21 days and include a fever, cough, runny nose or rash.
