How ‘a man with a blow torch’ turned a rally in Colorado into a scene of horror

An Israeli flag is fixed to a street sign as police stand by off Pearl Street on the scene of an attack on demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday. Photograph: Eli Imadali/AFP/Getty Images

The first 911 calls reporting the Colorado flamethrower attack were as horrific as they were unbelievable.

“There is a male with a blow torch setting people on fire,” a dispatcher advised the city’s police department, passing on the account of an eyewitness. Another official reported: “Multiple burns, potential terror attack.”