This Sunday, June 8, at noon, the Boulder and Denver chapters of Run for Their Lives will walk together in a show of unity and solidarity in the face of the June 1 antisemitic terror attack. The walk begins at Broadway and Pearl Street (east side), with a program to follow in front of the Boulder County Courthouse on the Pearl Street Mall.
The event coincides with the Boulder Jewish Festival, which begins at 11 a.m. Organizers are encouraging community members to attend both.
“I am glad we’re walking again,” said Ed Victor, who was present for the attack on June 1 and helped extinguish the flames on one of the most severely injured victims. “I think that’s what we need to do, because someone did stuff to prevent us from walking.”
He said now it felt like the group, which always walked for the Israeli hostages held in Gaza, had extra purpose now. “It’s like an asterisk, an apostrophe, an exclamation point,” he said. “It was never a routine, and now we have extra intention about it.”
Visitors can expect enhanced security measures and increased police presence, according to Jamie Barker of Boulder Fire-Rescue.
“We encourage the public to ‘see something, say something’ — report any suspicious activity to an officer in the area or to dispatch,” she told Boulder Reporting Lab. “For safety in public spaces, it is important to be aware of your surroundings, let others know where you are, and follow your gut instinct.”
Chief Redfearn said Thursday that people can expect a visible law enforcement presence this weekend, including SWAT teams, drones, and plainclothes officers.
“We want people to feel safe, we want people to feel at ease,” he said. “Any would-be attacker, anyone that might be there to cause harm, I want them to see we have a lot of people there, and hopefully that dissuades them from doing anything.”
I wish they would expand their Run For Their Lives campaign to walk for ALL the innocent victims of this war. The total number of dead is staggering and shameful.
Linda, it seems you’re missing the point of this peaceful walk. It’s to remember there are still innocent hostages of 10/7 alive in Gaza. Hostages who were going about their daily lives or to a music festival celebrating peace when they were brutally taken against their will and some are alive and still being held in Gaza. This is merely to keep them in our thoughts. Their families and friends want a peaceful return of their loved ones. I’m not disagreeing the loss of lives is a tragedy but this is to remember the hostages with no political bend and another terrorist act should not change that. ☮️