FBI director’s post labeling Pearl Street Mall attack as terrorism surprised Boulder police, chief says ...Saudi Arabia

Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn had reason to believe a Sunday afternoon attack on the Pearl Street Mall was terror.

At 1:26 p.m., a man had thrown Molotov cocktails at a group walking to raise awareness of Israeli hostages being held by the terrorist group Hamas.

So while he was driving over, he called the FBI’s Denver field office to tell agents about the attack.

“We had a very good idea this was terrorism. It’s one of the reasons the FBI was there, they were one of my first calls when I heard what had happened,” Redfearn said in an interview with the Daily Camera on Tuesday.

But it was still early in the investigation, and Redfearn was waiting to hear what Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the 45-year-old Egyptian national who was arrested in the attack that injured 12, told detectives about his reasons for the attack.

Then, at 3:23 p.m., FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X: “We are aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado. Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available.”

was surprising to local law enforcement because the FBI was not a “co-agent” in the investigation at that time, Redfearn confirmed Tuesday, making details about the attack, including whether it was classified as terrorism or not, the police department’s to release.

“The director’s information proved to be true. We were just not quite there yet,” Redfearn said. “At that time, it was still our information to — the FBI hadn’t taken over at that point.”

Redfearn said he was hesitant to label the attack a terror incident during a 4 p.m. news conference because the interviews with Soliman weren’t over, and investigators were still interviewing witnesses and victims and reviewing video of the incident. That decision has prompted backlash online.

“We were very close to being able to say it was an act of terror, but by no means did I want to make a public statement and confirm it was terrorism and then have to walk that back,” he said.

While Redfearn was caught off guard by Patel’s statement, he said Tuesday that he felt aligned with FBI Denver agents on the scene. Boulder spokeswoman Jamie Barker confirmed Tuesday that FBI Denver became co-agents in the investigation during a 6:30 p.m. press conference on Sunday.

“The FBI and the Boulder Police Department have and continue to investigate jointly,” Vikki Migoya, a FBI Denver spokesperson, wrote in an emailed response to questions about the timing of the bureau joining the investigation.

“We understand the community wants information quickly… we just needed to get it right,” Redfearn said.

Redfearn also discussed how Sunday’s Molotov cocktail attack exemplifies his biggest fears as a police chief — Soliman was not on officials’ radar because he had kept his plans fairly contained and was acting alone.

“…That’s what frightens me, we can never predict where it’s going to happen,” he said.

Despite Sunday’s incident being the second mass attack in Boulder in just over four years, Redfearn assured that the city is safe.

“If you look at our crime rates, Boulder has very little violent crime compared to other cities,” he said. “One violent crime is too many, however, I feel incredibly comfortable in this city.”

Boulder police arrived on the scene within minutes of the attack, which was reported to police in a 1:27 p.m. 911 call, and took Soliman, who was cooperative, into custody. He has since been charged with a federal hate crime and is facing a slew of state charges, including attempted first-degree murder.

Redfearn said he was proud of how the department responded, saying officers stopped more people from getting hurt.

As of Tuesday morning, three victims remain hospitalized, according to a UC Health University of Colorado Hospital spokesperson. Redfearn said Tuesday morning he will have opportunities to meet with victims later this week.

In the days following the attack, Redfearn has increased police patrols on Pearl Street. Previously, six officers and one sergeant were assigned to the area, but on Monday and Tuesday, Redfearn said 10 were on patrol.

He could not say where in the area the patrol officers were during the attack, but confirmed that the first officer to respond happened to be in his car nearby.

Redfearn said the Run for Their Lives group of about 20 had not requested extra officers that day. He also said the weekly gatherings were peaceful, so there wasn’t a need for additional officers in the area. Redfearn estimated there were hundreds of civilians around the Pearl Street Mall at the time of the attack.

The chief said upcoming events in the city will have “heavy security presence,” including events involving the Jewish community. However, Redfearn says he doesn’t want Pearl Street Mall to look like a military state in the long term.

“We don’t want to have armed cops with rifles on every corner,” Redfearn said. “As we look at events, we’re going to do things a little bit differently. Obviously, any event in the near future, we’re going to upstaff heavily with a lot of uniforms, plainclothes (officers), drones.

“None of this is a secret. We want the public to know we’re going to have a lot of resources there and we want any would-be attacker to know that.”

Still, Redfearn said officers can’t be everywhere at once, so the department needs the public to alert them when they see something suspicious or concerning.

“We can never say with good conscience that we can prevent that next attack, but what we can do is encourage the public to be vigilant and notice suspicious behavior and call us,” Redfearn said.

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