Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Boulder Firebombing Suspect Pleads Guilty

Transcript

Boulder Firebombing Suspect Pleads Guilty · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch, I'm Rachel Adler. And we're
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: launching Antisemitism Watch, Mid-Atlantic, providing focused coverage from New York,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region. Find us at clockworkmedia.org
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: slash MA today. We begin with a significant development in
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: a violent hate crime case, and then turn to serious
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: allegations on a school campus and new policy proposals from Australia.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: In a significant development from the justice system, Mohamed Sabri
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Solomon pleaded guilty on October 29 to federal hate crime
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: and explosives charges for firebombing a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: on June 1, 2025. According to the U.S. Department of Justice,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Solomon admitted he committed the attack because of the actual
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: or perceived Jewish religion and Israeli national origin of the
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: group he targeted. Prosecutors say he yelled,' Free Palestine!' as
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the Molotov cocktails he lobbed at the crowd burst into flames.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: The attack injured multiple people, and tragically, 82-year-old Karen Diamond
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: died of her injuries later that month. Solomon is already
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: serving a life sentence for state charges, including first-degree murder,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: and faces a life term plus 50 years in federal prison.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: The plea deal was announced by the Department of Justice
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: and reported by multiple outlets including the Algeminer and jpost.com.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: This case underscores the severe physical violence that can stem
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: from antisemitic motives and the accountability that can follow. On
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: a school campus, serious allegations of prolonged antisemitic harassment have
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: led to a federal civil rights complaint. The Anti-Defamation League
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: and the law firm Reed Smith LLP filed a complaint
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: on Behalf, of a 14-year-old Jewish student at Desert Shadows
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Middle School in Phoenix, Arizona. The complaint alleges that between
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: April and May of 2026, the student faced a month-long
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: campaign of harassment, including being called derogatory names, subjected to
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Heil Hitler salutes, and told her parents should send her
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: to a concentration camp to be gassed. The allegations also
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: include a physical assault. According to reporting by Hoodline.com and Adel.org,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: The complaint accuses the Paradise Valley Unified School District of dismissing,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: delaying its response to, and blaming the victim for the harassment.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: The ADL stated that when a district minimises these incidents
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: and fails to effectively respond, antisemitism spreads. Turning to policy,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Gillian Segal, has proposed
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: new measures to address concerns about media coverage and institutional behaviour.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: As reported by The Guardian and ABC News, Segel has
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: recommended establishing an external independent ombudsman to monitor coverage of
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: the Gaza war by public broadcasters ABC and SBS. She
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: expressed concerns that subjective, inaccurate and disproportionate reporting may contribute
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: to hostility towards Jewish Australians who support Israel. Segel also
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: suggested implementing codes for arts organisations and universities that to
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: limit personal political or ideological activism. She clarified these proposals
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: are not aimed at silencing criticism of Israel, but at
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: addressing what she termed modern progressive antisemitism. In another institutional matter,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: a report from the House Committee on Education, and the
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: workforce alleges that leaders of the American Psychological Association, or APA,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: dismissed Jewish members' concerns and allowed anti-Israel activists to influence
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: the organization's policies. Cleveland Jewish News reports that the committee's
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: findings detail allegations that APA leaders resisted addressing Jew hatred,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: and that Republican staff on the committee accused the organization
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: of allowing anti-Semitism to fester. Jewish psychologists who raised these
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: concerns expressed fear of professional backlash, with one describing the
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: report as both validating and heartbreaking. At UCLA, the university
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: itself has admitted that some university employees were exposed to
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: antisemitism on campus in a legal filing. As reported by
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: the New York Post, UCLA lawyers made this admission while
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: seeking to dismiss a lawsuit from the Trump administration. The
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: university argued it cannot be held liable for harassment by
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: individuals it does not control. UCLA pointed to its own
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: initiatives aimed at combating antisemitism. In the realm of political
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: and media rhetoric, Prominent white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Fuentes reacted with anger to the results of Israel's general election.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: World Israel News reported that Fuentes lamented the outcome, declaring,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Jews win again, and expressing frustration over Prime Minister Benjamin
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Netanyahu's potential path to remaining in power. This exemplifies how
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: extremist figures continue to employ antisemitic tropes tied to political events.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: On the podcast, On Brand. Jewish podcaster Donny Deutsch confronted
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: Representative Nancy Pelosi regarding concerns he has about rising anti-Semitism
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: within the Democratic Party. Deutsch cited politicians like Abdel El-Sayed
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: and Zoran Mamdani, asking Pelosi what she says to a
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: lifelong Democrat who questions if the party is still theirs.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Pelosi stated she was unaware of any anti-Semitism within the party,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: though she acknowledged that some remarks could be misinterpreted. Deutsch
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: described the trend as more than concerning and wrong. Turning
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: to incidents of vandalism, Scott Manley, a candidate for town
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: of Newburgh Supervisor, found his campaign sign defaced with a swastika.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: MidHudson News reported that the town of Newburgh Police Department
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: is investigating the incident as a hate crime. Manley, who
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: is Jewish, expressed shock at the act, which was condemned
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: by local officials including Senator James Scoofies and Congressman Pat Ryan.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: On the campus front, Canoga Park Senior High School in
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Lowe's Angels has met a deadline set by the Lowe's
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Angels Unified School District to correct a hostile environment against
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Jews and Israelis. The district had ruled that teachers violated
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: civil rights law with anti-Israel advocacy that fostered this environment,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: using the classroom for activism. Cleveland Jewish News reports the
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: school principal confirmed compliance with the district's directive. In terms
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: of online extremism, A study by the Combat Antisemitism Movement
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: tracked 2,806 posts over 75 days. As reported by CombatAntisemitism.org,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: these posts collectively generated 1.18 billion views, underscoring the vast
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: and far-reaching spread of online antisemitism. A controversial slogan has
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: entered legal discourse. The phrase, from the river to the sea,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: described by the Times of Israel as a common anti-Zionist
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: protest slogan, has become central to a U.S. license plate dispute,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: bringing its contentious nature and legal significance into a court
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: of law. On the watchdog front, a new study by
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: the ADL and Boundless, reported by jpost.com, surveyed nearly 7,500
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Americans aged 18 to 44. It found many young adults
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: struggle to identify antisemitic content online. Crucially, the research demonstrated
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: that a brief social norming message— highlighting that most Americans
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: reject antisemitic hate speech, significantly improved their ability to recognize
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: and report such content. And now, for a look at
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: community response and positive developments. In Australia, a farewell reception
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: was held for Jeremy Labler, the outgoing president of the
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Zionist Federation of Australia, hosted by President Isaac Herzog. As
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: detailed by jpost.com, Labler was honored for his eight years
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: of leadership. particularly his crucial role in navigating a challenging
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: period for the Australian Jewish community and ensuring a successful
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: state visit for President Herzog. Speakers praised his courage and
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: wisdom during times of rising antisemitism. I'm Rachel Adler. Thank
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. For focused coverage from
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region, listen
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: to Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: so you don't miss the next update. This report was
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: important details with primary sources.