Trump blames lax immigration policies for attack in Boulder, Colorado

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U.S. President Donald Trump condemned an attack in Boulder, Colorado that targeted a march in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and said he would work to remove the suspect in the attack from the US.

“Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America,” Trump said Monday on his social-media platform.

Trump went on to blame the immigration policies of former President Joe Biden for the presence of the suspect, identified by the FBI as 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman of Egypt. US officials said Soliman has been residing in the US on a visa that expired in 2023.

“He came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly,” Trump said. “He must go out under “TRUMP” Policy. Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland.”

The FBI is investigating the incident — which left eight people injured and has renewed fears about rising antisemitic violence in the US — as an attack of terrorism. Witnesses say they saw the suspect use a makeshift flamethrower and throw an incendiary device in the attack, and the individual was heard to yell “Free Palestine,” according to law enforcement.

The victims were participating in an event hosted by the group Run for Their Lives-Boulder, which has held demonstrations since 2023 in response to the attack by Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union.

Trump and his aides have seized on terrorist attacks to bolster their tough-on-immigration stance and ramped up deportations of migrants. Trump in January after an attack in New Orleans, suggested the perpetrator was a foreign-born individual who had crossed the border, but investigators identified the suspect in that case as a US citizen.

The Trump administration has cited growing incidents of antisemitic rhetoric and violence, in particular on college campuses following Hamas’ attack and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza, to also force universities administrators to implement changes to a wide-range of policies, including admissions and hiring.

The Boulder attack follows a rash of troubling antisemitic violence, including last month in Washington, DC, where two Israeli embassy staffers were murdered outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The suspect in that case also chanted “Free Palestine” while in custody, law enforcement said.

In April, a 38-year old man allegedly broke into the residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, setting it on fire. Shapiro, who is Jewish, had hosted a Passover seder at the residence just hours before the fire was set.

Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis said it was “unfathomable” that the Jewish community was facing another attack and said the victims had been “brutally attacked while peacefully marching.”