Pearl Street attack intensifies tensions over antisemitism at Boulder City Council

It began more than a year and a half ago with flag-waving and speeches as protesters urged the Boulder City Council to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Many waved Palestinian flags. Others brought Israeli ones. One night, someone handed out popcorn.

Since then, the meetings have grown more volatile. This year, they’ve been increasingly dominated by a group of pro-Palestinian speakers calling for action. That presence has brought emotion, disruption and, at times, escalating tension with pro-Israel residents or others attending meetings. Attendees have shouted over one another. The presiding mayor has called at least 19 recesses to calm the room, sometimes forcing everyone out of the council chambers, often adding to already long meetings. 

In recent months, calls for a ceasefire resolution have escalated into something else: repeated personal attacks directed at Jewish councilmembers. One of them is often called a Nazi. 

Councilmembers have struggled with how to respond given First Amendment protections. Hours have been spent discussing how to manage the disruption while rhetoric blaming councilmembers for being complicit in the war has left some feeling not just uncomfortable, but unsafe. They’ve tried various measures, including limiting speaking time by councilmembers, banning large signs and, most recently, suspending people who violate decorum.

There has also been a degree of tolerance. At least one councilmember has opted out of attending that portion of public comment. Others have chosen not to respond to the remarks.

But now, in the wake of Sunday’s terrorist attack on Pearl Street targeting people gathering peacefully for the weekly Run for Their Lives walk, city council chambers are under renewed scrutiny. The man who threw Molotov cocktails at residents walking for hostages held by Hamas shouted “Free Palestine” and made anti-Zionist statements that echoed what has been heard during public comment in recent months.

No one is saying city council meetings had anything to do with Sunday’s attack. But the overlap in rhetoric is expected to heighten tensions, as some councilmembers worry that language used during public comment lays the groundwork for acts of violence.  

“I knew all this vitriol would at one point become actual physical violence,” Councilmember Tara Winer, who is Jewish and knew several of the people who were badly burned in Sunday’s attack, told Boulder Reporting Lab. “You can’t have this kind of constant yelling and screaming and cursing and vitriol and hatred and then not have it turn to violence. It just happens that way. And Jews know it happens that way.” 

During public comment at council meetings, Winer has been called a “Jewish supremacist” and a “ZioNazi” who wants to send weapons to Israel. Attendees have also called councilmembers “baby killers.” A poster circulated earlier this year featured the faces of seven councilmembers beneath the word “WANTED,” accusing them of being “complicit in genocide.”

Councilmember Mark Wallach said the rhetoric contributes to a hostile climate. 

“Calling Jewish members of the council — I’m one of them — a Nazi, that’s like using the N-word,” Wallach told Boulder Reporting Lab. “If somebody did that in council, we would all be rising from behind the lecture.” 

Council’s internal divisions

Federal prosecutors have charged the suspect in the attack, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, with a hate crime. Authorities said he injured at least 12 people. Two were flown to a burn unit in Aurora, with one in critical condition. Soliman told investigators he wanted to “kill all Zionist people” and would do it again. Police also found 16 unused Molotov cocktails at the scene. He had planned the attack for at least a year and attempted to buy a gun, according to law enforcement. 

On Monday night, following the FBI’s determination and similar characterizations by other Boulder-area leaders, the city issued a statement condemning the “targeted, antisemitic attack” and “act of terror against Jewish people.” The only councilmember among the nine who did not sign was Taishya Adams, who has consistently pushed for the council to take up the issue of a ceasefire resolution and changes to the city’s investment policy regarding weapons.

Adams condemned Sunday’s violence in a LinkedIn post, writing: “I condemn any form of violence in our community and around the world.” She said she did not sign the statement because she wanted the attack to be characterized as “anti-Zionist.”

In February, the group Stop Antisemitism Colorado published an open letter accusing her of using her position to promote anti-Israel policies. That same month, she was named in a complaint alleging she violated the city’s code of conduct after she blocked Jewish residents from her social media accounts and a book group. She was cleared of wrongdoing. 

Hours in recess from disruptions

In response to recent rhetoric in chambers, the city manager has suspended at least four pro-Palestinian protesters from attending meetings in person due to rule violations.  

Still, the disruptions have continued. Since January 2024, the council has spent more than two-and-a-half hours in recess due to disruptions, according to a Boulder Reporting Lab analysis. That’s roughly the length of some entire council meetings.

Mayor Aaron Brockett said he plans to meet with city staff to discuss possible security measures for the June 5 council meeting. He declined to say what steps, if any, might be taken. 

Some councilmembers have floated other ideas, including moving open comment online or pushing it to the end of the meeting. But even Wallach, one of the most vocal critics of the vitriol, said people should be able to speak directly to councilmembers. 

In the wake of Sunday’s attack, he said councilmembers may be too polite in their responses. 

“It’s personal. I am kind of at the end of it. I want people to be called out when they are doing the wrong thing,” Wallach said. “My sense of diplomacy is very badly diminished.”