Aaron Brooks was riding his bike Sunday afternoon when he heard screams for help come from around the corner of the Boulder courthouse.

What Brooks encountered next is something that he said will stay with him forever:

“I hear somebody yelling, ‘Is anybody a doctor, is anybody a doctor?’ And I thought somebody maybe at one of the restaurants was having a heart attack. Then I saw a friend of mine running from the courthouse yelling, ‘Is there a doctor?’ And I get the mental map to realize: did something happen to our group?”

Brooks, who is Jewish, walks every week with a group called “Run For Their Lives,” who advocate for the release of hostages in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and he witnessed the group being attacked as it was happening.

“I saw smoke on the ground, flames coming from the ground, smoke literally coming from a human being … there was blood. It was horrific.”

The incident occurred just before 1:30 p.m. near 13th and Pearl streets during the Run For Their Lives’ “peaceful humanitarian walk for hostages.”

The suspect was heard yelling “Free Palestine” while tossing a makeshift flamethrower toward the group, injuring 12 people ages up to 87, according to FBI Special Agent In Charge Mark Michalek and the City of Boulder.

Brooks said the Run For Their Lives meetings are “not a protest, it’s not a rally, it’s not even a march. It’s a walk. We walk. It’s peaceful.”

He said the group meets on a weekly basis and its size varies. Brooks said he often acts as a watchful eye during the walk in case anything happens.

Before he knew it on Sunday, Brooks found himself in the middle of de-escalating the situation before watching authorities arrest suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian citizen, who faces several federal charges.

One of the victims is a Holocaust survivor and she is “going to be OK,” Brooks, a friend of the victim, said, calling her a “personal hero” and “the most wonderful person I’ve met.”

Leo Terrell, the Justice Department official that heads up the antisemitism task force, confirmed Monday that one of the victims of the Boulder attack was a Holocaust survivor.

“She endured the worst evil in human history,” Terrell wrote on X. “She came to America seeking safety. And now, decades later, she’s victimized again by a terrorist screaming ‘Free Palestine.’”

“Free Palestine” is a political slogan — widely used for decades — that expresses solidarity with Palestinians and calls for an end to Israeli occupation. Commonly seen at protests, the phrase has become a flashpoint in the global debate over Middle East policy, especially during periods of violence such as the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, which sparked campus demonstrations across the United States.

An estimated 220,800 Holocaust survivors live in more than 90 countries worldwide, with half in Israel, according to the Claims Conference Center for the Study of Holocaust Survivor Demography, which tracks the number of survivors worldwide.

The United States has the largest number of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel with 34,600.

Jewish community condemns attack

Across Colorado on Monday, the local Jewish community shared support and prayers for the victims while also condemning antisemitic attacks leading up to what unfolded in Boulder on Sunday.

“We are saddened and heartbroken to learn that an incendiary device was thrown at walkers at the Run for Their Lives walk on Pearl Street as they were raising awareness for the hostages still held in Gaza,” the Boulder Jewish Community Center said in a collective statement with Boulder-area rabbis and the CU Boulder Hillel.

“When events like this enter our own community, we are shaken. Our hope is that we come together for one another,” the statement read.

In a collective statement with 40 of its members, JEWISHcolorado officials said the community is “outraged and heartbroken,” calling the attack in Boulder “vicious.”

JEWISHcolorado partners with agencies such as Stop Antisemtism Colorado, StandWithUs and the Jewish Community Relations Council.

“Innocent people were severely injured for nothing more than raising awareness of the hostages held by Hamas,” JEWISHcolorado officials said.

“Violence against Jews is immoral and must end,” they added. “Colorado must be a place where every Jew feels safe, supported, and free to live their authentic Jewish lives. We will continue to live proudly and openly.”

Richard Hirschhaut, the western states director of the American Jewish Committee, told The Denver Gazette Boulder’s attack is “an assault upon our freedom as Americans to gather, to speak out, to worship freely and to express our heartfelt views.”

“I had a terrible sinking feeling, once again,” he said, “that Jews and other peace-loving Americans who are simply expressing their First Amendment rights to gather, to come together in solidarity, would be attacked and hurt.”

Boulder’s incident follows other violent crimes related to the crisis in Gaza.

Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted “Free Palestine” as he was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing two Israel Embassy employees outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. on May 21.

The Associated Press and Denver Gazette reporter Nicole C. Brambila contributed to this report.