Boulder, CO, October 12, 2007... The Anti-Defamation League's Mountain States Boulder Office expressed strong support today for the Boulder Police Department's investigation of an alleged assault against a Jewish man on October 10.

ADL Boulder Community Coordinator Amy M. Stein issued the following statement:

ADL strongly supports the investigation by Boulder police of this alleged assault to determine whether a hate crime was committed.

Hate crimes have an impact far beyond the individual victim of the crime. When a victim is chosen because of his or her religion, other members of that religious group feel unsafe and unwelcome. Hate crimes resonate throughout the victim's community and threaten the safety and well-being of every member of that group. 

If Boulder officials find that this was a bias-motivated attack, we urge them to prosecute this crime to the full extent permitted under Colorado's bias-motivated crimes law and the City of Boulder's Hate Crimes Ordinance and call upon the Boulder community to speak out loudly against hate crimes. Boulder is no place for hate.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.