Colorado scrambles to protect potential targets after Boulder attack

State of play: Gov. Jared Polis is urging his Department of Public Safety and budget officials to "accelerate" financial grants to protect sensitive sites, such as synagogues and mosques, Axios Denver has learned.

A 2022 state law allocated $500,000 annually to help safeguard organizations at high risk of a terrorist attack because of their ideology, belief or mission, which built on a federal program.

The first grants — totaling $408,255 — went to nine organizations in 2023, including four churches, two religious schools, the YMCA in Boulder and Longmont, and Girl Scouts of Colorado.

The latest: In 2024, state lawmakers allocated an additional $1 million for the program. The governor's office distributed the money to 30 nonprofits deemed by federal authorities to be at "high risk" of attack.

• No state grants have been made this year.

What they're saying: The governor's office is blaming delays at the federal level as the reason that no additional money has been allocated since the Boulder attack.

• $3.4 million in federal dollars are earmarked for Colorado, but so far, the Trump administration has not distributed the money, even after a court ruling lifted an initial hold.