Why has Boulder become the ideal soft target for violence?
By Jon Caldara
What is it about Boulder?
The shock of the latest pro-Palestinian violence reminded me of the magnetic field surrounding my hometown that draws in crazy assailants to make national news.
JonBenet Ramsey was murdered a stone’s throw from where I was living at the time. In 2006, surveillance video from a Boulder County bank led to the capture of serial killer Scott Kimball.
When Robert Redford’s daughter was a student at CU, her boyfriend was killed by a shotgun to the back of the head in his luxury apartment. The 1983 case is still open.
In 1990, I walked out of my Boulder apartment to see billowing smoke and flames just two blocks away. Gordon Hood drove from Denver to hire a pilot to take him for a ride in a twin-engine Cessna. In a murder-suicide, he attacked the pilot to crash the plane.
Something about Boulder
Road tripping to Boulder just to perpetrate violence is an ongoing theme.
There was a popular spot to target shoot on national forest land just outside town. Then in 1990, escaped Cañon City prisoner Michael Bell arrived there impersonating a forest ranger. He took the guns from two shooters, killed them with those guns and went on a shooting spree, killing four. I was at that spot the day before.
In 2021, Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa drove from Arvada, passing other grocery stores on his way, to the very King Soopers my family and I frequent. He gunned down 10 people, including the brave cop who rushed in quickly.
Was it an act of pro-Palestinian violence? We can only speculate.
And, of course, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the Egyptian living illegally in the U.S., drove from Colorado Springs to firebomb Zionists. There are many chapters around the nation of Run For Their Lives, the group demonstrating to free the Hamas hostages. There is a Denver chapter, but he drove an extra 30 miles to terrorize Boulder. Why?
Of course, we’ll never know why people travel to Boulder to hurt others. Maybe it’s all just coincidence. Occam’s Razor favors that opinion.
Or maybe, just maybe, the arrogance of the place quietly pulls people to unleash their madness there. Does Boulder’s self-satisfaction and elitism lodge in the brains of the disrupted, unconsciously tickling until it’s scratched by violence?
The city pastime in Boulder is not baseball. It’s virtue signaling.
According to census data, more than 15% of Aurora’s population is “Black or African American.” Boulder’s population is only 1.02% African American. Boulder’s racist housing policies make it nearly impossible for poorer people, mostly people of color, to live there. Yet Boulder is the undisputed champion for most white households with “Black Lives Matter” yard signs.
The message is clear. Just because black lives matter, it doesn’t mean we want them living next to us. We’ll make an exception for Deion Sanders.
Boulder as ‘soft target’
As a whole, Boulderites are unaware of how people outside of their elitist bubble perceive them. If you are off your rocker, planning to do violence, are you pulled to target the place where everyone not only knows they are better than everyone else, but must announce it?
Then there are some practicalities of violence to consider. If you are going to go on a violent rampage, the last thing you’d need is some armed citizen putting a quick end to you and your fun.
El Paso County has the highest number of concealed weapons permit holders, around 50,000, while Boulder County has about 3,000. Additionally, Boulder made carrying a gun in seemingly every place illegal.
The city specifically bans concealed carry in stores, malls, churches and theaters. So, only the places where you need them.
From a practical point of view, Boulder is the perfect “soft target.”
And let’s not forget Boulder’s not-so-subtle intolerance as they spout tolerance. Catholic churches have been vandalized for their stance on abortion.
The pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli message is the city’s virtue signaling de jour.
From the hallowed halls of CU academics to the near constant demonstrators on street corners, Boulder emits an odor that smells like, “you’re not really welcome here.”
Angry, unhinged violent crazy people needing a place to rage might be tempted, consciously or unconsciously, by Boulder’s aroma.
Or, maybe not. And, like you, I’m just trying to make sense out of the senseless.
