CNN is being slammed for downplaying the terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, which saw multiple people injured at a pro-Israel rally.
FBI Director Kash Patel referred to the event as a ‘focused terror assault’ on protesters who had gathered to honor the October 7th victims held captive in Gaza during Sunday afternoon.
The horror unfolded during the event, organized by Run For Their Lives, on Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder at around 1.26pm, police said.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino also called the incident ‘an act of terror and targeted violence’.
‘Every essential resource will be allocated to this inquiry. Should you possess any leads, please reach out to the FBI. Anyone who was involved in or supported this assault will be apprehended. There is nowhere to run,’ he stated on X.
However, Juliette Kayyem voiced on CNN that the Boulder police chief had not labeled the incident as a terrorist act yet, criticizing Patel for presuming it prematurely.
‘It makes law enforcement look disorganized and it makes the FBI look so juvenile, like why are you getting ahead of the police chief who says “I don’t know what this is,”‘ Kayyem argued.
‘And he has no incentive to get it wrong.
‘So we’re going to take a step back, not be responsive to tweets by two heads of the FBI who don’t have a long history in law enforcement,’ she said of the network.
‘And we will wait and hope it isn’t what we all worry it is – and if it is, then there’ll be an investigation.’
If they then determine it was terrorism, Kayyem said, ‘I will be the first one out here saying that this is a hate crime.
‘But until we do, we all need to – to not follow the FBI’s tweets,’ she argued.
Her comments were quickly criticized online, with one person noting that the suspect was caught on video ‘ranting about Zionism as he sets Jews on fire.’
They also shared a video of the as-of-yet unidentified suspect holding what appeared to be Molotov cocktails and saying, ‘This will end when Palestine is free and for us.’
‘Hey CNN hacks @JulietteKayyem and X-less Andrew McCabe, here’s your video,’ they wrote.
‘Tell me again it’s too early to talk about motive and call [Bongino] and [Patel] “juvenile” for saying this is “terror,”‘ he slammed the network.
But he was not the only one criticizing the network for its coverage.
‘CNN is blaming the FBI for calling it terrorism when you throw Molotov cocktails at innocent citizens,’ another wrote, after originally posting: ‘CNN is always confused about when Jews get attacked and whether it’s antisemitism or terrorism or even hatred at all.’
Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, the consul-general of Israel’s diplomatic mission in Miami, Florida, went even further.
‘CNN continues its biased, misleading and unprofessional reporting,’ he wrote.
‘Even at this early stage we already know the attack targeted Jews protesting for the return of hostages – a likely antisemitic hate crime.
‘But you wouldn’t know it from their post. Why? Because CNN bears responsibility for the very incitement fueling such attacks.’
Even Bongino reshared a post criticizing the CNN hosts.
‘The guy shouted “Free Palestine” while throwing fire bombs at a crowd of Jewish people,’ Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the FBI Ben Williamson wrote.
‘We correctly referred to an investigation of terrorism, will continue to do so and we have zero interest in what either these CNN guests have to say.
‘Kick rocks,’ he added.
It remains unclear how many people were injured, the extent of the injuries, or the identity of the attacker.
Yet shocking video and images from the scene showed several victims laying motionless on the ground beside Israel flags as witnesses rushed to pour water on their wounds.
EMTs then rushed to treat people at the scene and move some to hospital in stretchers as flames spread on patches of ground nearby amid burned-out bottles.
Another video showed what appeared to be a burn scar across the ground close to the town’s old courthouse.
The department’s chief, Steve Redfearn, told a press conference victims suffered ‘injuries consistent with burns, and other injuries’.
Redfearn added that police were not yet releasing the identity of the suspect, but said he was detained and taken into custody ‘without incident’.
Police asked residents to avoid the stretch of Pearl Street between Walnut and Pine as they continue to investigate.
DailyMail.com has reached out to CNN for comment.
