A Sunday Ritual Turns Into a Smoky Scene of Chaos

New York Times

02-06-2025

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.