Boulder marchers attacked in June will no longer give location of walks
By Alan Gionet
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BOULDER (KCNC) — Nearly three months after an attack on marchers on Boulder’s Pearl Street, leading to the death of a woman and injuries to 15 others, marchers say they will no longer announce their location in advance for weekly marches.
“I just feel very responsible for these people, and I don’t want any harm to happen on these walks,” said Rachel Amaru, founder of the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives.
The organization says its purpose is to call for the release of any remaining hostages held by Hamas since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Southern Israel.
Amaru and other marchers have been the target of withering verbal attacks by counterprotestors both at the marches and outside Boulder City Council chambers, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators continue to call upon the city to divest from any financial ties to Israel. At times, the Run for Their Lives marchers have been called Nazis and are accused of complicity in genocide. They have been called obscene names and racist.
“I guess my question is, where does free speech become utter hate speech, and I think we are really there in this moment? And I don’t think that this community feels safe for people who want to walk around and don’t want to hide that they’re Jewish,” said Amaru.
“Just being subjected to that kind of verbal attack has its own emotional weight,” said Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the Jewish Community Relations Council based in Denver. Rattiner said in the aftermath of the June attack, which killed 82-year-old Karen Diamond, there is a lack of understanding by the counterprotestors. “I mean if you can’t have sympathy and understanding for people in that cohort, I don’t even know who’s left.”
Aaron Stone, who is also running for Boulder City Council, has been one of the more vocal counterprotesters. Stone says he has some regrets about some of his words. “I do agree that my language has been strong in the past, and I do apologize for going that route.” He called Amaru, who is Jewish, a “Nazi” during one of his public demonstrations.
“I’m not seeing a Jewish person. I’m seeing someone who is walking down the street talking about 20 hostages and ignoring the two million Palestinian hostages that are being kept in Gaza,” said Stone. While he backed off on some of the invective, he said he will not budge on some of his views. “I will hold my stance that a genocide is going on. It needs to end. Palestinians have human rights. They all need to be recognized. So too the rights of Israelis.”
Amaru has also had to endure claims of racism and profane name-calling from some of the counterprotestors. She says she is not scared, but “Every person in my extended family is very scared for me. So I’m scared for my daughter when we’re walking.”
Her group has its own security watching out for its welfare. Boulder police officers have also been at the Run for Their Lives marches in the weeks since the June attack.
Starting this weekend, walks will be at locations not disclosed to the public. There will also be heavy security at undisclosed locations. Amaru says they will continue to march until the hostages are free. She hopes for action by city leaders, but there is the question of First Amendment rights, making the situation more difficult.
“I guess my question is, where does free speech become utter hate speech, and I think we are really there in this moment? And I don’t think that this community feels safe for people who want to walk around and don’t want to hide that they’re Jewish,” said Amaru.
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