[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 3, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3194-S3195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Boulder, Colorado Attack

  Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, our Colorado community is reeling 
from a heinous hate crime against the Jewish community in Boulder, CO.
  On Sunday, 12 Coloradans were badly injured after a suspect threw 
Molotov cocktails, incendiary devices, into a crowd, specifically 
targeting the Jewish people there--a targeted, anti-Semitic attack.
  The 12 individuals were part of a peaceful march in Boulder that 
happens every week to call for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
  The suspect has since told investigators that he planned the 
terrorist attack for over a year; that he specifically wanted to target 
the Run for Their Lives group, this group that had been meeting every 
week lobbying for the release of hostages.
  Bottom line, this attack was not random. It was a deliberate hate 
crime against the Jewish community that was planned for months. The 
scope of that hatred is unconscionable.
  These were men and women who dedicated their time to advocating for 
innocent hostages who have been now held in captivity for over 600 
days. Most importantly, the demonstrators were motivated by a desire 
for peace and were operating in a peaceful fashion.
  Let me repeat that. These men and women wanted peace. Instead, they 
were met with horrifying and senseless violence.
  The upswing in violence targeting the Jewish community needs to be 
condemned at every level. And now, anti-Semitism and the hate that 
comes with it has taken root at home in Colorado. But Colorado is not 
alone. Our country is still mourning the recent assassination of two 
Israeli Embassy staff members who were shot as they exited an event at 
the Capital Jewish Museum just a little over a week ago.
  And just this past April, the Pennsylvania Governor's mansion was 
firebombed as Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family celebrated Passover 
inside.
  These are just a few of the recent and most visible anti-Semitic 
attacks. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic 
incidents have reached a record high since the October 7, 2023, attack.
  It is absolutely unacceptable for anti-Semitism to exist in our 
country. And yet, the Jewish community in Colorado and the Jewish 
community across the United States has to live with the daily fear of 
targeted terrorist attacks and escalading calls for violence against 
the Jewish people.
  We need to do more to protect the Jewish community in Colorado and 
across the country and make sure that they feel safe in the aftermath 
of this horrific attack.
  Across the country, Jewish people are angry. They are terrified. 
Jewish Coloradans woke up this morning feeling unsafe--unsafe to go to 
school, unsafe to go to work--wondering what and if there is a path 
forward.
  In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote:

       The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a 
     descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to 
     destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.

  Colorado has always been a State that embraces difference and always 
will be. The answer to this violence is not to turn to the comfort of 
simple or black-and-white answers, backing into our corners and 
spreading more fear and more hatred. Now is the time to double down on 
our commitment to unity in the face of our differences. It is the only 
way we can guarantee safety and peace for our Jewish community and for 
every community.
  Now, what does that mean in real terms? It means fully investigating 
this hate crime and making sure the suspect is fully prosecuted to the 
fullest extent of the law. It means zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in 
Colorado schools, our workplaces, or in our public spaces. It means 
taking a lesson from the 12 demonstrators who were victims in Sunday's 
attack. Through peaceful action, they stood up for their beliefs, 
supported one another, and helped our country take small but meaningful 
steps forward. They wanted to end this descending spiral of violence. 
The rest of us should too.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.

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