Boulder City Council and city officials convened on Thursday for the first time since an antisemitic attack on the Pearl Street Mall days prior, and discussion of that attack and the council’s response dominated the discussion.

Mark Wallach and other City Council members criticized fellow Councilmember Taishya Adams for not signing a Monday council statement denouncing the attack.

Adams did not sign off on the statement because she took issue with the letter not including anti-Zionism as a motivator for Mohamed Sabry Soliman’s firebombing of 15 peaceful demonstrators who were calling for the release of 58 dead and alive hostages held by Hamas. Soliman told investigators that he wanted to “kill all Zionist people.” Adams has reiterated that she denounces the attack and agreed with the vast majority of the council’s statement. Her decision drew condemnation locally and even internationally, with the Times of Israel reporting on it.“The letter did not compel any signatory to abandon their views on the Gaza-Israeli conflict, no matter what those views might be. It did not require any member of this council to renounce his or her allegiances or political alliances,” Wallach said. “It required only that we show some human compassion for members of our community who are suffering.”

Wallach then addressed Adams directly and said, “What were you thinking?”

Wallach then called the distinction “pedantic,” although Adams firmly believes it’s a necessary one to make.

“When you were elected to this council, you became a steward to the city of Boulder. The entire city of Boulder. This week, I believe you failed that obligation of stewardship,” Wallach said.

Adams released her own statement in which she condemned the attack. She said she was sorry to hear how Wallach felt and would “honor” his feelings. But she stood by her reasoning.

“As I mention in my statement, it is our responsibility as a city to let (our) community know all of the things, even when it is painful because it helps them to better protect themselves and each other,” said Adams, who is Black.

She later added that she is focused on healing in the wake of the “acts of violence. Being set on fire is something akin to lynching, I might say, or even being set on fire. which many of my ancestors also experienced. So I’m acutely aware and very empathetic to the Jewish plight.”

Wallach and fellow Jewish Councilmember Tara Winer have been referred to by some pro-Palestine protesters at in-person meetings as “Zionazis,” a portmanteau of Zionists and Nazis.

“I have swung from outrage to sadness to anger, but never to surprise,” Winer said. “This act of terror, sadly, comes as no surprise to our Jewish community. I’ve said this before to many people in this room many times that I was worried about the name-calling, I was worried about the cursing, the screaming and the bullying in the council chambers by people who insist we need to take a stand on international affairs after voting, over a year ago, 7-2 that we would not. I said to many in this room this was not going to end well.”

Winer then criticized Adams, without naming her, for making the attack “about her political views and not the people set on fire, some of whom are my dear friends, I urge you to rethink your perspective.” Winer also criticized officials for sharing statements that condemned “generic” attacks and not an attack directly on the Jewish community.

Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Folkerts shared a message from someone she said is a Jewish community member: “I do believe that anti-Zionism and antisemitism are different. However, even if the perpetrator’s intent was anti-Zionism, the impact is antisemitism. Tragically, a violent perpetrator would attack me for my religious signs and not first stop and ask about my own political views on the other side of the world.”

Councilmember Matt Benjamin also, without naming her, criticized Adams, who has been the most vocally pro-Palestine member of the council.

He said that antisemitism is “gangrenous” in the community and it has been allowed to grow for far too long.

“It can’t be dismissed as a fringe part of our community when a member of this council has peddled and egged on this very antisemitism we are fighting today,” Benjamin said.

Public excluded for safety concerns

The council and city staffers convened in person at the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building for the meeting, but in-person public comment was not planned for the meeting due to security reasons. City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde on Wednesday had emailed to the council’s public hotline announcing the decision. She said that the police department has been providing extra security to public events and therefore wanted to cut out perceived expendable needs of their services. Rivera-Vandermyde said Section 2-1-2 of the Boulder Municipal Code allows for such changes.

At the start of Thursday’s meeting, Mayor Aaron Brockett moved that no public comment — in-person or remote — be allowed at the meeting. Those who signed up for open comments were allowed to email their comments to the council.

“I will note that our open comment over the past year and a half has been increasingly dysfunctional and divisive and has left community members feeling unsafe,” Brockett said. “After the horrific terror attack on Sunday, I feel this is a time for us to be coming together as a community.”

Adams was the only present City Council member not to support Brockett’s motion to not hold open comments. Benjamin, who attended the meeting remotely, also voted against the motion.

“I know our community is grieving, and our community has a right to be able to talk to us about it; that’s a part of grieving. Some don’t walk to speak, others want to speak. And for those reasons, I will be voting ‘no’ on this motion,” Adams said. “But again, I appreciate the attention but I want to honor that grief looks different and everybody should have a right to speak to us — especially now. Unfortunately, my concern is that a delay will actually elevate the anger of those who want to, and need to, speak with us directly.”

Rivera-Vandermyde spoke on increased safety measures from the Boulder Police Department in the community in the wake of the attack.

“I will say that moving forward, community members should expect to see increased security presence continue, including our efforts to intensify our community engagement efforts, encouraging residents and visitors alike to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity,” Rivera-Vandermyde said.

Soliman, an Egyptian national who had been living in El Paso County, is charged with 118 counts, including multiple accounts of first-degree murder and first-degree assault.

“I wanted to offer my deep gratitude, which I’m sure is shared by all of my colleagues, for the extraordinary work of city staff in this crisis,” Brockett said.