Sanctuary policies in deep-blue Colorado led to terror attack, says local DA

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Permissive laws in deep blue Colorado created an environment in which last weekend's antisemitic attack could occur, a local district attorney told Fox News Digital.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, George Brauchler, a Republican district attorney for Colorado's 23rd district, said that the state government, which is dominated by Democrats, has been intentionally creating a lax, sanctuary-type environment regarding immigration enforcement. 

This, he said, emboldens illegals, such as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspect accused of firebombing pro-Israel activists on Sunday, to act with impunity.

A DHS spokeswoman has said Soliman, an Egyptian national, was living in the country illegally at the time of the attack. He entered the United States in August 2022 with a visa that expired in February 2023, the spokeswoman said, noting he applied for asylum during that time.

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Soliman allegedly injured eight adults, including a victim who was 88 years old, at an outdoor mall in Boulder, according to the FBI.

The suspect was witnessed shouting "Free Palestine" during the attack and using a makeshift flamethrower to target the crowd, the FBI said. Police said the victims were hospitalized with burn wounds.

They had been participating in a Run for Their Lives protest, which, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is a weekly event attended by members of the Jewish community to support hostages held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists.

Discussing the brazen attack, Brauchler said: "When you have taken the ongoing steps that our state government has taken over the past many years to identify yourself to everyone, both citizen and noncitizen alike, that you are a sanctuary state - and it doesn't matter if they ever say those words, what matters is the policies in place - and when you had put local law enforcement on its heels, when it comes to trying to coordinate with immigration enforcement authorities, you create an environment where someone feels like visa or no visa, I can stay here and do whatever I want, whether it's to try to find a job off the books or to plan for a terrorist act against Jews up in Boulder."

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In response to the attack, Brauchler said he expects the Trump administration may assume control of the case and "make an example" of the perpetrator.

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"In the past, you would see some deference by the federal government to local prosecutors who showed an interest in prosecuting high-profile cases," he said. "But in this day and age, with illegal immigration being an issue, with the anti-Semitic terrorist acts being an issue, I can foresee President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi saying, 'We're taking this case, we're going to use every tool at our disposal, we're going to highlight this prosecution, we're going to make an example of this guy, and we're going to send a message.'"

Brauchler said that though "we've seen antisemitic stuff before out here, never in my recollection at this scale or this brazenly having somebody do this."

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"My worry is if we don't make a big, loud, powerful statement sooner rather than later, these things are going to start to repeat themselves, not just here, but everywhere," he said.

"This is another horrific blemish on a state that I have known as home my entire life," he went on, adding that "because of the powers that be and the policies that have been put in place over the last 10 or 15 years, I don't recognize Colorado anymore."

"It's hard to imagine, and it's just another black eye for our state that we didn't need," he said.