Sunday’s Molotov cocktail attack in Boulder on a Jewish gathering in support of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza is the latest horrific episode in a record-breaking spike of antisemitism not seen in a generation. The attack — reportedly planned by a lone wolf actor for more than a year — was predictable and preventable in ways that reflect an ongoing failure to stem the spread of antisemitic propaganda and its mobilization to violence.
One of the top antisemitic narratives that circulate online is the false idea that ordinary Jews are responsible for the actions of Israel. That is the exact idea that mobilized violence in Sunday’s attack, along with the killings of a young couple outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., last week and the arson attack against Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home on the first night of Passover. The Colorado, Pennsylvania and D.C. attackers all justified their violence against Jewish Americans as a response to the state of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
One of the top antisemitic narratives that circulate online is the false idea that ordinary Jews are responsible for the actions of Israel. That is the exact idea that mobilized violence in Sunday’s attack.
My research lab at American University, the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), maps the most emergent, salient and fastest-spreading propaganda and conspiracy theory narratives across a wide range of harmful ideologies as part of our work to create digital literacy tools to educate Americans about manipulative propaganda and bad actors online. The targeting of Jews because of political disagreement about the state of Israel is one of the most dangerous, and fastest-spreading, such narratives.
Since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, we have seen global acts of violence and vandalism against Jewish houses of worship and Holocaust memorial sites. Protesters shouted “baby killers” at drivers near a synagogue in New Jersey, etched or spray-painted antisemitic graffiti at Jewish houses of worship and cemeteries, and made bomb threats against synagogues.
Make no mistake: Nonviolent political protest is a hallmark of American freedoms. It is understandable that people want to protest the atrocities in Gaza, which are heartbreaking and nauseating, including the deaths of 27 mostly children gunned down by Israeli soldiers this week for “straying” from the designated path of a food aid line. But violence is an unacceptable tactic that must be prevented and countered. Blaming Jews for the actions of the Israeli government is both wrong and antisemitic and has led to anxiety among Jewish Americans that “simply existing in public as a Jewish person is increasingly dangerous.”
Our failure to meaningfully address antisemitism as a country has many layers. The Biden administration launched a landmark national strategy to counter antisemitism in 2023, but made little progress on the more than 100 specific actions named. The Trump administration’s actions to combat antisemitism have been accused by a coalition of Jewish organizations as eroding democratic norms, and by a group of senators as weaponizing antisemitism in ways that undermine “legitimate, nonpartisan efforts to combat rising antisemitism.”
The biggest failure, though, is also the easiest one to address: the spread of disinformation and propaganda that so clearly motivates and mobilizes violence. Both administrations utterly failed to meaningfully address the spread of disinformation and propaganda online, which makes targeted mass violence more likely. The Biden administration’s effort to counter disinformation as part of national security efforts collapsed after just three weeks, following massive circulation of misinformation about its purpose and aims. The Trump administration has decimated federal funding for primary prevention of targeted violence as well as efforts to bolster the kinds of digital and media literacy that help fight online propaganda.
These failures fly in the face of what we know about prevention of mass violence: It is preventable if we invest early enough in recognizing warning signs and help people be savvier about the content they consume online. There is strong evidence that people can be dissuaded from believing in harmful online propaganda and conspiracy theories in as little as 30 seconds, just by learning about the manipulative tactics of persuasive bad actors and becoming more skeptical. Our failure to meaningfully address antisemitism as a country has many layers. We also know that communities can be equipped to prevent violence. There is time to prevent harm in almost every case of radicalization — if we intervene early enough. And by now, the signs are more often than not there for anyone who will pay attention. There are simple steps that communities can take, for example, educate people about red flags and warning signs that make it more likely for family members, friends, colleagues, or others to notice behavioral changes or statements that might need to be escalated to authorities for further assessment. The Boulder attacker plotted his attack for more than a year. He learned how to shoot a gun and took a concealed carry class, but after discovering he was ineligible to purchase a gun as a noncitizen, he did online research on how to make Molotov cocktails. Safeguarding Jewish communities will only happen when we invest in the kinds of upstream prevention that would make every one of us safer — including digital and media literacy programming for everyone. Imagine a world where the Boulder attacker, and others like him, are dissuaded from believing propaganda that says ordinary Jews are accountable for the political actions of a state halfway across the world, or that violence is an acceptable response to political disagreement. No one deserves to be targeted for their identity, their religion or the false claim that they are somehow responsible for the actions of a state. Until we address the roots of the propaganda and the spread of disinformation that enables those beliefs, we will continue to see violence and harm like last weekend’s horrific attack.
Cynthia Miller-Idriss is an author and expert on extremism. 
