logo
A Sunday Ritual Turns Into a Smoky Scene of Chaos

A Sunday Ritual Turns Into a Smoky Scene of Chaos

New York Times02-06-2025
Every Sunday at 1 p.m. in Boulder, Colo., the walkers take their places. They have done so since a few weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. They begin at Pearl and Seventh Streets and walk toward the courthouse, along a pedestrian mall.
Lisa Effress, 55, who has lived in Boulder for 17 years, has been there since the first walk. 'Whenever I'm in town,' she said, 'I try to be there.'
The ritual is simple: walk, speak the names of those still held hostage, sometimes sing 'Hatikvah,' the Israel national anthem, and bear witness. The numbers vary — 20, sometimes 100. People see the group, hear the songs, and fall into step.
They wear red. It's symbolic. It's visible.
Ms. Effress wasn't walking this Sunday. She was across the street, having lunch with her daughter. But lunch got cut short. She heard sirens. Police cars, ambulances.
She checked the time and figured the group must be near the courthouse. She left lunch and ran over.
'I knew immediately — I just knew,' she said. 'I ran across the street, looking for everyone.'
What she found felt surreal. Smoke. Discarded clothes used to extinguish flames. People dazed, half-undressed. Bags and backpacks left behind in panic. And then, she saw a friend who was a Holocaust survivor, being helped into an ambulance.
'It was horrible,' said Ms. Effress, a filmmaker and managing partner in a post-production company.
On every walk, Ms. Effress said, she is vigilant. Alert to strange behavior, to tension in the air. 'We are peaceful. We are not protesters,' she said. 'But there are always people protesting us.'
She added: 'I have always taught my daughter: Be proud to be Jewish. Don't be afraid. But in a time like this, it is crazy to think we will ever be walking again. It's dangerous, it's not safe for us.'
She said that according to a Whatsapp chat for the walking group, the weekly walk has been canceled indefinitely.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Social media companies not liable for 2022 mass shooting, New York appeals court rules
Social media companies not liable for 2022 mass shooting, New York appeals court rules

Yahoo

time4 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Social media companies not liable for 2022 mass shooting, New York appeals court rules

Social media companies not liable for 2022 mass shooting, New York appeals court rules (Reuters) -Several social media companies should not be held liable for helping an avowed white supremacist who killed 10 Black people in 2022 at a Buffalo, New York grocery store, a divided New York state appeals court ruled on Friday. Reversing a lower court ruling, the state Appellate Division in Rochester said defendants including Meta Platforms' Facebook and Instagram, Google's YouTube, and Reddit were entitled to immunity under a federal law that protects online platforms from liability over user content. The plaintiffs included relatives or representatives of people who died in Peyton Gendron's racially motivated mass shooting at Tops Friendly Markets on May 14, 2022, as well as store employees and customers who witnessed it.

Cult mum Lori Daybell called 'coward' as she is given two more life sentences
Cult mum Lori Daybell called 'coward' as she is given two more life sentences

Yahoo

time4 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Cult mum Lori Daybell called 'coward' as she is given two more life sentences

Lori Vallow Daybell, the doomsday cult follower who killed her two children, has been sentenced to two additional life sentences for plotting to kill her estranged husband and her niece's ex-husband. At her sentencing hearing in Arizona on Friday, Daybell's family members described in court how she victimised them and their disgust. "You are a manipulator, a parasite and a coward," she was told by Kay Woodcock, the grandmother of her murdered son. Daybell had already been sentenced to life in a separate trial for killing her son Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and daughter Tylee Ryan, 16. The latest sentences are for plotting to kill ex-husband Charles Vallow, and ex-nephew Brandon Boudreaux. Her only-surviving son Colby Ryan was among those in court on Friday. He memorialised his father Charles Vallow, who "took care of our family, and he made sure we had a good life". Speaking to her mother, he said it "must be a very sad life to smile your way through all the pain you've caused". "Rather than being able to acknowledge the pain that she has caused, she would rather say that Charles, Tylee and JJ's deaths were a family tragedy and not her evil doing," he said. "Quite frankly, I believe that Lori Vallow herself is the family tragedy." Larry Woodcock, the grandfather of JJ, also lashed out, at times yelling at her. "You murdered Charles, the best thing that's ever happened in your life, for your delusional, narcissistic ways," he said. "I will never speak your name again, murderess. You are nothing." Daybell was found to have conspired with her brother, who died of natural causes in 2019, to murder her ex-husband and cash in on his life insurance. Officials say she also conspired to kill Brandon Boudreaux, who narrowly avoided being shot in the head outside his home. During trial, she argued that her late brother killed her former husband in self-defense. The so-called "Doomsday Mom" represented herself during trial, despite having no legal experience. Chad Daybell, her current husband, is awaiting a death sentence in Idaho for the deaths of the two children, and his wife from the time when his affair began with Lori Daybell. Chad Daybell is an author who has written several apocalyptic novels loosely based on Mormon religious teachings. The murders were committed as part of the couple's bizarre belief that people in their lives had come to be possessed by evil spirits. The sentencing on Friday comes at the end of her third and final trial. The case has gripped the US, after the two children went missing, along with Daybell and her husband. She was later arrested in Hawaii and the children's bodies were found on a property belonging to her husband in Idaho. 'Doomsday' couple charged with child murders Doomsday cult mum sentenced for murdering children Triple-murder 'doomsday' trial starts for Idaho man

Lawmakers Press FDA to Target Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs
Lawmakers Press FDA to Target Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs

Yahoo

time4 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Lawmakers Press FDA to Target Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs

(Bloomberg) -- Dozens of lawmakers are urging US health regulators to crack down on the booming market for knockoff weight-loss drugs amid mounting concerns over their potential safety risks. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship? Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom Trump Administration Sues NYC Over Sanctuary City Policy On Friday, a group of more than 80 bipartisan lawmakers asked the US Food and Drug Administration to stop counterfeit and copycat versions of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound from flooding the market — a problem that emerged over the last year. 'We are concerned about recent reports revealing a surge in illegal and counterfeit anti-obesity medications,' they wrote in a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. 'Undoubtedly, illegal counterfeit medications pose an increased risk to patient safety with sometimes fatal consequences.' The group — spearheaded by Representatives Richard Hudson of North Carolina and Herb Conaway of New Jersey — asked the agency to ramp up enforcement over illegally imported weight-loss drugs. They suggested issuing warning letters and better monitoring non-compliant online retailers and so-called compounding pharmacies that sell the medicines. The lawmakers also said the FDA should work in tandem with US Customs and Border Patrol agents to stop Chinese entities from shipping unsafe weight-loss drugs into the US. They requested an update on the FDA's efforts by July 30, given the 'urgency' of the situation. A spokesperson for the FDA said the agency will work with the US Department of Health and Human Services to provide a 'complete and thorough' response to the issues raised in the lawmakers' letter. 'Any effort to undermine America's supply of safe medicines is an issue that FDA takes seriously,' the spokesperson said. 'And we are deeply committed to strengthening the oversight of imported products at US ports of entry.' In recent years, the popularity of GLP-1 drugs has led to an explosion of copycats and counterfeits made by companies seeking to capitalize on the hype. State-licensed pharmacies were temporarily allowed to make copies of the drugs during a supply shortage, but are no longer permitted to do so after Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co. boosted production. Still, some pharmacies have refused to wind down their operations while others have pivoted to selling the drugs in lower doses in order to avoid regulatory scrutiny. Counterfeit drugs are made by unregistered entities typically using illegally imported ingredients. As recently as April, there continue to be instances when counterfeit Ozempic pens covertly enter the drug supply chain undetected. Some patients are also purchasing ingredients directly from online sellers in an attempt to make the drugs themselves at home. In both cases, the medications don't go through the same rigorous approval process as brand-name drugs made by Novo and Lilly. Experts worry the lack of oversight is putting patients at risk. The FDA has said it's aware of hospitalizations potentially linked to the copycat drugs, but that adverse events are likely being underreported. 'We support the bi-partisan call for the FDA to crack down on counterfeit and illegally sold weight-loss drugs,' said a spokesperson for Hims & Hers Health Inc., one of the telehealth firms that sells compounded GLP-1s. 'We appreciate lawmakers' recognition that legitimate compounded medications dispensed by state-regulated pharmacies are not counterfeit. Patient safety must always come first.' Novo and Lilly have discouraged consumers from using compounded and counterfeit products, including suing telehealth firms that sell the copycat versions and working with border agents to seize illegal shipments. Under the Biden administration, the companies repeatedly urged the FDA to take action, but the agency mostly limited its actions to issuing consumer warnings — even as its top drug official publicly acknowledged safety concerns. Under the Trump administration, the HHS has also focused more heavily on other issues, such as banning food dyes and examining vaccine schedules. Meanwhile, lawmakers are ramping up their calls for action. State attorneys and other lawmakers have sent letters to the FDA and Federal Trade Commission advocating for greater transparency around the treatments and more scrutiny around marketing practices. (Updates with statement from FDA in sixth and seventh paragraphs.) Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Confessions of a Laptop Farmer: How an American Helped North Korea's Wild Remote Worker Scheme It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store