For the second time in as many weeks, the Jewish community faced a violent antisemitic attack that has become a focal point of online conversation. Last weekend, in Boulder, Colorado, a peaceful walk organized by Run for Their Lives to raise awareness for Israeli hostages was targeted when a man threw Molotov cocktails and used a homemade flamethrower, injuring 15 people, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor.
Police say the attacker, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, shouted antisemitic phrases and had been planning the assault for over a year. He now faces federal hate crime and attempted murder charges. The attack has sparked renewed fears about rising antisemitism and prompted heightened security measures at Jewish institutions across the country.
A Shift in Online Reaction: From Shock to Fear
In the aftermath, many users expressed horror at the act of violence and solidarity with the victims and the broader Jewish community. However, compared to the online response to the murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim in Washington, D.C. just 10 days earlier, the tone of the Boulder conversation was notably different.
Analyzing the emotional trends of social media posts, we found that the top three emotions conveyed after the D.C. murders were disgust, sadness, and fear, in that order. In contrast, the conversation around Boulder was overwhelmingly driven by fear, followed by disgust and then sadness.
One person on X reacted to the attack, writing “after checking in with friends to see if they & their loved ones are ok, and with others across the country who are scared right now, the feeling I’m left with the most is anger.” In both cases, surprise was the least detected emotion, suggesting a growing sense of resignation around antisemitic violence. The shift in emotional tone underscores the community’s heightened anxiety in the wake of a second targeted attack in less than two weeks.
Emotion Breakdown of Social Media Conversations Around the D.C. Murders and Boulder, Colorado attack
Yet, as with the D.C. murders, the Command Center tracked a wave of antisemitic narratives emerging online in response to the Boulder attack. The term “false flag” spiked again—up over 300% the day after the incident—as some people dismissed the attack as an Israeli psyop intended to justify the war in Gaza. Others sought to downplay or justify the violence. For example, Palestinian-American poet Remi Kanazi wrote on X: “All of a sudden Zionists are against burning people alive. Doesn’t seem to bother them as Israel does it to Palestinians on the daily.”
As the news cycle continued, social media conversation shifted from antisemitism to immigration. Soliman’s identity as an Egyptian national who had overstayed his visa reignited calls for stricter immigration policies. In response, President Trump announced a travel ban affecting 12 countries, and members of Soliman’s family were taken into ICE custody, now facing deportation.
Some Jewish advocacy groups have raised concerns that the tragedy is being politicized to advance broad immigration crackdowns, especially given that Soliman’s radicalization appears to have stemmed from online hate rather than border enforcement failures. Others noted a troubling double standard—pointing out that for some, the attacker’s immigration status received more attention than the violence inflicted on the Jewish community.
Online Grief and Fury as Antisemitic Incidents Grow
As the American Jewish community reels from two violent antisemitic attacks, fear and unease are rising. While many continue to persevere, questions are surfacing about who is standing up for them and why the threat appears to be growing.
These events are not isolated. They are part of a growing trend of reported threats and plots targeting Jewish communities. In Michigan, federal authorities thwarted a potential mass shooting attack on a Jewish daycare. In Washington state, a Nazi sympathizer with a stockpile of weapons and explosives was arrested before he could act. Rising events have resulted in the FBI and DHS releasing a joint bulletin warning of elevated threat environment targeting the Jewish community and institutions.
Across social and mainstream media, the combined usage of phrases like “threat of antisemitism,” “scourge of antisemitism,” and “deadly antisemitic attack” has increased by 52% highlighting the deepening sense of alarm following the attacks in Washington, D.C., and Boulder, Colorado.
Online users expressed grief, urgency, and anger. One post called the Boulder attack “horrifying” and urged people to “stand up to antisemitism.” Others prayed for the victims and condemned the violence, calling it “abhorrent” and “evil.” A widely shared tribute to the Israeli victims in D.C. called their murder “unacceptable,” saying Jews must be able to gather without fear. The post ended with a defiant message: “We will not be silent, and we will never let antisemitic terror defeat us.”
FCAS Founder, Robert Kraft echoed this concern in an interview with CNN earlier this week, emphasizing the failure of people in power to speak out. He warned that when leaders remain silent in the face of antisemitic attacks, it sends a dangerous message that this kind of hate is acceptable.
Together, these reactions point to a community that is grieving, fearful, but also demanding accountability and solidarity.
