Monday morning on the Pearl Street Mall isn’t a peak time for foot traffic. In that sense, this Monday was no different. But the Boulder community was still reeling in the aftermath of an antisemitic attack on the iconic, four-block outdoor mall.
On Sunday, in front of the historic Boulder County Courthouse, when a man using a makeshift flamethrower and incendiary devices attacked a group of people participating in a Run For Their Lives event, advocating for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The attack, which investigators are calling a hate crime, has garnered international attention with the backdrop of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
The morning after the attack, the mall was its usual quiet other than city ambiance, birds chattering and the courthouse fountain running. Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians snuck glances at the scene of the attack on the ground in front of the courthouse’s front door, which was being cleaned.
“(Pearl Street) is an incredibly special part of our city. And that spot in front of the courthouse is exactly in the center of it, so it really is a violation of our city’s core,” said Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett.Brockett said earlier that he was “absolutely outraged and appalled at the targeted terror attack on our Jewish community for the folks who were just walking to bring hostages home safely. … (I) want all the folks in the Jewish community to know that we have their backs. We stand with them in this incredibly difficult time.”
‘Heart of Boulder’
On weekends, one can see street performers on the busy Pearl Street Mall with couples, families and friends eating ice cream, enjoying some drinks on a patio or just basking in the sun. Pearl Street Mall is as synonymous with the city as the Flatirons that overlook it.
Richard Foy was one of the original designers of the Pearl Street Mall in the 1970s. Now in his 80s, Foy lives on top of a hill that overlooks the city.
He gets excited when he speaks about Boulder. To him, itap a city that marries intellect, the beauty of people and nature, and culture.
When speaking about Pearl Street, Foy recalled an experience at a town plaza in Mexico where a teenager playing hip hop music from a boombox was teaching children and older adults alike how to dance.
“I still get goosebumps thinking about,” Foy smiled.
Thatap what he and his colleagues tried to channel when designing the mall five decades ago.
“Itap an expression of three things: beauty, meaning and connection,” Foy said.
As one social media commenter said in response to a Daily Camera request for memories of the mall, “Itap the heart of Boulder.”
Another person posting on the recalled meeting her husband of 20-plus years there in 2003 when looking for directions to an Irish pub. Other users remembered the Halloween mall crawls in the 1980s.
As Monday wore on, more people trickled down Pearl Street between 13th and 14th streets — the location of Sunday’s attack — and took in the scene.
Brighton residents Kyle Shorter and Elizabeth Shorter, both 26, were married Sunday at Sunrise Amphitheater in the foothills above Boulder. They were supposed to take photos in front of the Hotel Boulderado, but then the attack unfolded.
“Itap sad,” Kyle Shorter said. “Yesterday, more panicked. We got … back to the Hotel Boulderado (probably) 30 minutes after it all happened. … The energy is just very sad.”
On Monday morning, they visited the scene of the attack.
“It feels very somber,” Elizabeth Shorter chimed in, adding that right after arriving at the hotel Sunday, they had to evacuate.
The Shorters were unable to get back to the hotel until around 8:30 p.m., and even then, they had to go around Pearl Street.
“We’ve seen (the Run for Their Lives) group that was walking here multiple times,” Elizabeth Shorter said. “Every time we’ve come here the past two years we always see them.”
She said that when she thinks of Pearl Street Mall, she thinks of shopping and community. “We come here with our family very often.”
Three members of Boulder’s Jewish community — Caleb Loewengart, 20, Maya Winkler, 22, and Gil Eskayo, 24 — also visited the attack site.
“I do think that people who live in Boulder are loving, caring people and (I) really, really do think that, as a community, coming out of this we’ll only be stronger,” Loewengart said.
Bettina Swigger, CEO of the Downtown Boulder Partnership, echoed that sentiment and said there’s been an “amazing” outpouring of community support. She lives and works downtown, so she sees Pearl Street not only as a workplace but her neighborhood.
Swigger acknowledged that some people may feel unsafe downtown after the attack but said that large public spaces such as Pearl Street will have vulnerabilities and that public safety is a priority.
“We’re always making efforts so it can be as safe as it can be,” Swigger said.
The wounds were still fresh on Monday. One woman, who did not provide her name, laid a bouquet of flowers in front of the courthouse fountain.
“Itap just really sad,” is all she said.
