The recent primary election victory of Melat Kiros, a democratic socialist who unseated 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, has heightened security concerns among Denver's Jewish community. Local leaders report increased fear and a sense of being unheard due to Kiros's past statements regarding Israel and antisemitism.
Rabbi Menachem Lehrfield, director of the Jewish Outreach Initiative in Denver, described feeling fearful after Kiros's win, noting that his social media posts addressing his concerns were met with antisemitic comments. He recounted an incident where someone yelled “dirty Jew” at him from a passing car shortly after publishing an op-ed about his fears.
"I don't know what's going to happen next time. I don't know if next time, instead of hurling vile words, they'll be hurling an explosive like the person who killed Karen Diamond in Boulder," Lehrfield told Fox News Digital. He expressed deep concern that a significant number of constituents voted for Kiros.
These anxieties are amplified by the memory of a deadly antisemitic attack in Boulder in June 2025, where 82-year-old Karen Diamond was killed and over a dozen others injured when Molotov cocktails were thrown into a pro-Israel gathering. The alleged perpetrator, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged with murder and hate crimes, with prosecutors stating he yelled “Free Palestine” and had planned the attack.
During a 9News interview about the Boulder incident, Kiros condemned the violence but initially declined to label it antisemitic, stating she did not know the perpetrator's motivations. Weeks later, she clarified that the attack targeted Jewish people but stated that Israel's actions were putting Jewish people in danger and vowed to combat hate and antisemitism if elected.
Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), called Kiros's refusal to label the Boulder attack as antisemitic