Israeli hostages highlighted at Boulder Jewish Festival after attack on group urging their release

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — For the 611 days since Omri Miran was taken hostage by Hamas, his family has lived in fear, his brother-in-law told those gathered at the Boulder Jewish Festival on Sunday, one week after a man firebombed a group calling for the release of Israeli hostages at the mall where Moshe Lavi now spoke.

“We received only partial, limited and at times horrifying proof of life,” Lavi said to a hushed crowd. “We don’t know how much he’s suffering, deprived of food, water, sunlight, tortured, abused, as I speak to you now.”

The Jewish cultural festival was reimagined this year to highlight the stories of Israeli hostages after police said a man who yelled “Free Palestine” threw Molotov cocktails last Sunday at Boulder demonstrators calling for their release. Festival organizers said they wanted the annual event, which is in its 30th year, to focus on healing and center the group’s cause — raising awareness of the 55 people believed to still be in captivity in Gaza.

Authorities said 15 people and a dog were victims of the attack at the downtown Pearl Street pedestrian mall. They include eight women and seven men, ranging in age from 25 to 88. One is a Holocaust survivor.

Not all were physically injured, and some are considered victims for the legal case because they were present and could potentially have been hurt.

Run for Their Lives, the group targeted in the attack, started in October 2023 after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. The Boulder chapter, one of 230 worldwide, walks at the mall every weekend for 18 minutes, the numerical value of the Hebrew word “chai,” which means “life.”

Several hundred people joined the Sunday walk that typically draws only a couple dozen. Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper was among the participants. Demonstrators held signs that read “End Jew Hatred” and handed out stickers stamped with “611," representing the 611 days since the first Israeli hostages were taken by Hamas militants.

On a stage near the site of the attack, hundreds gathered to listen to speakers and songs. Vendors sold traditional Jewish and Israeli cuisine. In tents marked “Hostage Square,” rows of chairs sat empty save for photos of the hostages and the exhortation “Bring them home now!”

Lavi thanked local demonstrators for their bravery in advocating for his family. He described Miran as a gentle and loving gardener, husband and father to two young children.

Merav Tsubely, an Israeli-American who came to the festival from a city north of Boulder, watched as hostages' families thanked festivalgoers in recorded video messages. One of Miran’s children appeared on screen and said in Hebrew, “When daddy comes back from Gaza, he’ll take me to kindergarten.”

“Just seeing them speaking to us, here, with all they're going through, their supporting us is kind of mind blowing," Tsubely said, her eyes welling. “It just reminds us how connected we all are.”

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was charged for the attack Thursday in Colorado state court with 118 counts, including attempted murder, assault, illegal use of explosives and animal cruelty. He was also charged with a hate crime in federal court.

Soliman, an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the U.S. illegally, told police he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people," a reference to the movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel.

The violence in downtown Boulder unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, which continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitism in the U.S. It also came at the start of the holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates God giving the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai in Egypt.

U.S. immigration officials took Soliman's wife and five children, who also are Egyptian, into custody Tuesday. They have not been charged in the attack. A federal judge on Wednesday granted a request to block their deportation.

The Boulder Police Department and the FBI coordinated to provide increased security at the festival as well as local synagogues and the Boulder Jewish Community Center. Officers guarded the event’s entrances, and police Chief Stephen Redfearn said some plainclothes officers would be present in the crowd. On a rooftop near the stage, three held rifles and used binoculars to monitor the crowd as drones buzzed overhead.

Matan Gold-Edelstein’s father was present last weekend and helped douse the fire that burned an older woman. Gold-Edelstein, a 19-year-old college student, said the well-attended festival was a great show of humanity, regardless of religion or politics.

“We’re not here to be in support of a war," he said. “We’re here in support of our religion, in support of our people and in support of the innocent people who are still being held hostage.”

Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper marches during a rally at the Boulder Jewish Festival in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday, June 8, 2025.(AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Law enforcement officers keep watch from a rooftop overlooking the Boulder Jewish Festival in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Colorado State Rep. Lori Garcia Sander, left, state GOP Chair Brita Horn, center, and state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, right, show support for the hostages held in Gaza during the Boulder Jewish Festival in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday, June 8, 2025.(AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Shari Edelstein shows her support for the hostages held in Gaza during the Boulder Jewish Festival in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A group of people listen to speakers at a rally in Boulder, Colo.., on Sunday, June 8, 2025, calling for the release of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Jeff Burak marches in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday, June 8, 2025, to call for the release of Israeli hostages. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Moshe Lavi, whose brother-in-law, Omri Miran, is being held hostage in Gaza, speaks at a rally in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Former Colorado State Sen. Steve Fenberg marches with his daughter Isa in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday, June 8, 2025, to call for the release of Israeli hostages. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty speaks during a news conference in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn sits for an interview in Boulder, Colo., on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A woman places a bouquet of flowers at a makeshift memorial for victims of an attack outside of the Boulder County, Colo., courthouse Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Women embrace before a community vigil at the Boulder Jewish Community Center to mark an attack in Boulder, Colo., Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP, Pool)

NEW YORK (AP) — Free agent outfielder Max Kepler was suspended for 80 games on Friday following a positive test for a banned performance-enhancing substance in violation of Major League Baseball's drug program.

Kepler tested positive for Epitrenbolone, a substance that led to a suspension in 2018 for boxer Manuel Charr and caused the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to announced the following year it had disqualified 90-year-old cyclist Carl Grove from a world record he had set at the 2018 Masters Track National Championship.

Epitrenbolone is a metabolite of Trenbolone, which is contained in some products used in body-building stores and had been used in products to promote cattle growth.

Kepler, who turns 33 next month, is an 11-year major league veteran, who spent last season with the Philadelphia Phillies after playing his first 10 seasons with the Minnesota Twins.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

FILE - Philadelphia Phillies' Max Kepler during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)