Before Boulder, a city in Colorado, experienced a devastating terrorist attack at a pro-Israel rally, it was already dealing with a controversy related to anti-Semitism within its city council.

Earlier this year, the city council had to transition all of its meetings to an online format due to persistent pro-Palestine protests that were interrupting discussions on new policies. Additionally, a council member faced accusations of sharing content on social media that supported Hamas.

Since Sunday’s attack, the city’s ties to the Middle East have come under closer scrutiny. 

Many residents are surprised to find out that Boulder has a ‘sister city’ relationship with Nablus in Palestine. This special connection is cultivated by Taishya Adams, a city councilwoman who acts as Boulder’s liaison to Nablus.

She has come under fire in recent months for her comments about the conflict. 

At a November 2024 meeting, she shocked colleagues and constituents by stating the town has ‘blood on its hands’ and ‘skin in the game’, allegedly in reference to the October 7 attacks. 

Her pro-Palestine social media posts have enraged Jewish residents so much that many have called for her removal from the city council. 

When confronted by calls for Adams to at least lose her liaison position with the Palestinian city, Boulder Mayor Aaron Brocket refused to remove her as he said doing so would ‘tear the City Council apart.’

Adams was elected to the Boulder City Council in 2023, and quickly made a name for herself soon after the brutal October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. 

At a city council meeting a month after the attacks, Adams declared that the Boulder City Council had ‘blood on our hands’, a moment that led the Boulder Daily Camera to share an op-ed condemning her ‘extremely offensive’ remarks. 

The op-ed further alleged that Adams was invoking imagery from the 2000 Ramallah lynching, where two Israeli army reservists were killed by Palestinian militants before the killers displayed their blood-stained hands from a window. 

Footage of Adams’ remarks went viral as she quickly denied ever saying the council had ‘blood on our hands’ despite it being video recorded. 

On the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, Adams again invited backlash by sharing social media posts from ‘Within Our Lifetime’, a pro-Palestine organization accused of anti-Semitism. 

Her post called on protestors to ‘flood’ New York City, a phrase that has been alleged to support Hamas’ framing of the October 7 attacks as the ‘Al-Aqsa Flood.’ 

Despite facing backlash for the post, Adams continued sharing anti-Israel posts to her social media, such as sharing a story in February calling Israelis ‘mobs of settlers’ carrying out a ‘pogrom’ on Palestinians. 

In another story post soon after, she shared a call to release Palestinian prisoners in Israel that included a picture of a man wearing a Hamas headband, and also shared a Facebook video calling to ‘stop Zionist infiltration of US govt and media.’ 

That same month, Adams was sharply criticized in the city council for proposing a declaration condemning Muslim hate, which included at least seven references to Jewish people.  

The declaration followed the failure to co-create a joint Anti-Semitism and Anti-Muslim hate declaration. 

Her resolution appeared to wade into the origins of the Israeli state, declaring that ‘Muslim and Arab share a Semitic heritage with Jewish residents’ in the region. 

Adams’ resolution was rejected by the city council because of its language, with the hearing taking it up held virtually at the time because Boulder City Council meetings kept being disrupted by pro-Palestine protests. 

Earlier this year, Adams was also investigated by the council after residents filed an ethics complaint accusing her of blocking several Jewish constituents from her social media. 

Adams also allegedly blocked a Jewish resident from joining her book club, but the councilwoman was cleared of any wrongdoing after it was determined that she was acting in a private capacity and not as a legislator.  

In the wake of the latest attack, however, the councilmember offered a show of unity.

‘I condemn any form of violence in our community and around the world. Violence never brings peace! Terror belongs NOWHERE ever!!’ she wrote on LinkedIn.

‘I pray incident brings us together and not pull us further apart. Let us build bridges back to our hearts and ensure safety of all people.’

The level of pro-Palestinian protests in Boulder, and in particular at UC Boulder’s campus, led the city council to look into supporting a ceasefire resolution in the Israel-Hamas war.

But Adams was one of just two councilmembers who supported the resolution. 

Her fellow councilmembers and the city’s mayor voting against it for being irrelevant to the Midwest city council. 

The growing controversy in Boulder saw the Boulder Jewish News publish a rebuke of Adams just two days before the shocking terrorist attack on Sunday. 

It slammed her for ‘amplifying narratives that demonize Israel.’ 

The letter, written by ‘concerned Jewish resident’ Aaron Brooks, echoed calls for Adams to be removed as the city’s liaison with Nablus, saying her social media posts ‘reflect radical activism.’ 

‘This isn’t new behavior, and it isn’t isolated. It’s part of a pattern that includes blocking Jewish constituents, misrepresenting her past conduct, and publicly praising those who have disrupted council meetings for over a year now,’ the letter read. 

‘Let’s be clear: this kind of conduct from an elected official directly contributes to the toxic environment we’re seeing both inside and outside city hall. And it cannot go unchecked.’