logo
Colorado live: FBI and other officials giving update on petrol bomb attack

Colorado live: FBI and other officials giving update on petrol bomb attack

Sky News4 days ago

Colorado charges Soliman with eight counts of first-degree murder
The state of Colorado has charged Mohamed Soliman with eight counts of first-degree murder, our partner NBC News is reporting.
In the state of Colorado, death is not required for there to be a murder charge.
Rubio says all terrorists will have visa revoked
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said shared a few comments this evening on the Colorado attack.
Here is what he has said on X...
FBI and federal officials to hold news conference
At around 9.30pm UK time, state and federal officials will hold a news conference to announce state and federal charges against Mohamed Soliman.
The Boulder District Attorney's Office and the police department will join the FBI for the joint conference.
Here are the people we are expecting to hear from: Acting US attorney J Bishop Grewell for the District of Colorado
Special agent in charge Mark Michalek for FBI Denver
The 20th judicial district attorney Michael Dougherty
Boulder police chief Stephen Redfearn
We'll bring you the latest in our live coverage.
Colorado suspect 'had 14 unlit Molotov cocktails'
Mohamed Soliman told investigators that he looked up videos on how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube and purchased the items he needed to make them, our partner network NBC News reports.
The suspect, who is accused of throwing two Molotov cocktails at a group of people while yelling "Free Palestine!", also told police that he had planned the attack for a year, it is alleged.
According to a police report seen by NBC News, a black plastic container with a yellow top was found near where Soliman was arrested.
Inside it was at least 14 unlit Molotov cocktails.
The report also says that Soliman allegedly told investigators that he "wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead".
"Soliman stated that he hated the Zionist group and did this because he hated this group and needed to stop them from taking over 'our land,' which he explained to be Palestine," a police complaint seen by NBC reads.
He also stated "he would do it again".
Soliman had expired visa
Following Soliman's arrest, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security, said he had entered the US in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023.
"The Colorado terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country," she said in a post on X.
"He filed for asylum in September 2022."
McLaughlin told Sky's partner network NBC News the suspect's asylum claim was pending at the time of the attack.
Watch: Moment Colorado suspect is arrested
On Sunday, the man accused of using a makeshift flamethrower to attack a US group bringing attention to Israeli hostages in Gaza was charged with a federal hate crime.
Mohamed Soliman told police he had planned it for a year and targeted what he described as the "Zionist group", the FBI said.
Witnesses reported the man allegedly shouted "Free Palestine" during the attack.
The clip below shows the moment Soliman was arrested...
Suspect to appear in court later tonight
Mohamed Soliman is set to appear in court later tonight.
Before that, state and federal officials will hold a news conference at around 9.30pm UK time to announce state and federal charges against him.
We'll bring you the latest as we get them.
What happened during the Colorado attack?
Police chief Steve Redfearn said the attack happened at around 1.26pm on Sunday and that initial reports were that "people were being set on fire".
Boulder's police chief said the attack happened as a "group of pro-Israel people" were peacefully demonstrating.
The walk is held regularly by a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives, which aims to raise awareness of the hostages who remain in Gaza.
An initial review of Mohamed Soliman's possible social media accounts has not answered questions about a motive or pointed to any particular ideology, two senior law enforcement officials said.
Video from the scene showed a bare-chested man shouting and clutching two bottles after the attack.
Other footage showed him being held down and arrested by police as people doused one of the victims with water.
Nearby there appeared to be a large black burn mark on the ground.
A large part of downtown Boulder was cordoned off as sniffer dogs and the bomb squad searched for potential devices.
Four women and four men aged between 52 and 88 were injured and taken to hospitals, Boulder police said.
The force said the injuries ranged from "very serious" to "more minor".
Some of the victims were airlifted to hospital.
Man charged with hate crime after petrol bomb attack at rally
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, has been charged with a hate crime after people at a US rally in support of Israeli hostages were targeted with petrol bombs and a makeshift flamethrower.
Four women and four men aged between 52 and 88, were injured and taken to hospital after being targeted by a man shouting "Free Palestine", officers said.
They said the injuries ranged from "very serious" to "more minor" and one of them was in a critical condition.
The FBI said it was a targeted "act of terrorism" and named the suspect as 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman from El Paso County, Colorado.
Soliman has been charged with the federal crime of causing bodily injury because of actual or perceived race, colour, religion, or national origin.
Two senior law enforcement officials told Sky News' US partner network NBC News that Soliman is an Egyptian national who seemingly acted alone. They said he has no previous significant contact with law enforcement.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said Soliman was in the US "illegally".
Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the "horrific" attack in Boulder "will not be tolerated in the United States of America".
Welcome to our live coverage
Eight people were injured at a US rally for Israeli hostages after they were attacked by a man with a makeshift flamethrower and petrol bombs yesterday.
A group of people in Boulder, Colorado, were holding a regular demonstration to raise awareness of Hamas-held hostages in Gaza when they were allegedly targeted by a man who shouted "Free Palestine" on Sunday.
The suspect, who police named as 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman, was arrested at the scene.
Today, Soliman will appear in court after being charged with a federal hate crime.
We'll bring you the latest as we get them.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump looks to close 105-year-old department that supports women workers despite insinuating it would stay
Trump looks to close 105-year-old department that supports women workers despite insinuating it would stay

The Independent

time32 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Trump looks to close 105-year-old department that supports women workers despite insinuating it would stay

The Department of Labor said it would 'eliminate' the Women 's Bureau, a century-old department that focuses on advocating for economic equality and safe working environments for women, despite the secretary insinuating it was here to stay. When pressed with questions about the Department of Government Efficiency cutting grants administered by the Women's Bureau at a House Appropriations Committee meeting on May 15, Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer responded by emphasizing its history. 'Statutorily, the Women's Bureau is in statute,' Chavez-DeRemer said in response to Representative Rosa DeLauro's concerns. While Chavez-DeRemer's comment stopped short of a promise, she did not elaborate on the future of Women's Bureau, but insinuated the 105-year-old department was here to stay. Yet the Department of Labor's 2026 fiscal year budget in brief anticipates eliminating the Women's Bureau, calling it a 'relic of the past' and 'an ineffective policy.' 'The Department will work with Congress to craft a repeal package of WB's organic statutes, including the Women in Apprenticeship in Non-Traditional Occupations grant authorization. Apprenticeship work will be handled by the Employment and Training Administration,' the Bureau of Labor wrote. The Independent has asked the Department of Labor and the White House for comment. The elimination of the bureau, by giving it no funding in 2026, is the latest move by the Trump administration to override Congress's authority and get rid of previously appropriated funds for what it believes is unnecessary or does not align with the president's policies. During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to be women's 'protector' and insisted they would be 'happy, healthy, confident and free' under his administration. However, the Trump administration believes the Women's Bureau 'has struggled to find a role' in advancing the interests of women in the workforce, according to the budget brief. 'The Bureau works on a wide range of issues and its work is not always closely coordinated with, or informed by, the agencies that actually have the resources to address the issues at hand,' the Department wrote in its FY 2026 budget in brief. Established by Congress in 1920, the Women's Bureau is the only federal agency mandated to represent the needs of wage-earning women. It conducts research and policy analysis to advocate for policies that improve working conditions and increase profitable opportunities for women in the workforce. That includes getting more women to high-paying jobs, expanding access to paid leave and affordable child care, eliminating pay inequality, as well as harassment in the workplace. Part of its role includes grant-making and managing the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations grant program. The Women's Bureau also has the authority to investigate and report on matters about the welfare of women in industry to the Department of Labor. Nine current or former Department of Labor staffers told Mother Jones they believe shuttering the Women's Bureau aligns with the administration's desire to have women stop working and stay home to raise children. 'It really feels like a specific [effort] to get women out of the workplace,' Gayle Goldin, the former deputy director of the Women's Bureau under the Biden administration, told Mother Jones. 'We really still need the Women's Bureau, because we need to be able to identify what the problems are, see where the barriers are for women in the workplace, and ensure that women have full capacity to enter the workplace in whatever job they want.'

A banana a day to keep the tariffs away? Howard Lutnick mocked during congressional hearing over plan to make more products in America
A banana a day to keep the tariffs away? Howard Lutnick mocked during congressional hearing over plan to make more products in America

The Independent

time32 minutes ago

  • The Independent

A banana a day to keep the tariffs away? Howard Lutnick mocked during congressional hearing over plan to make more products in America

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was ridiculed in the House of Representatives over his proposed solution if Donald Trump's tariffs hit banana imports. Lutnick, one of the loudest cheerleaders for Trump's aggressive trade strategy, was testifying before the House Appropriations Committee when he found himself up against Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean. The congresswoman put it to Lutnick that the Trump administration lacked a fundamental understanding of how a trade deficit works, pointing out that the last time the United States had a trade surplus was during the Great Depression of the 1930s, a return to which is 'a direction none of us wants to go,' she said. Dean rebuked the secretary over the chaotic implementation of Trump's tariff policy after the president was forced to row back his imposition of steep levies on 100 countries on 'Liberation Day' (April 2) when they spooked the stock markets, forcing him to swiftly introduce a 90-day pause to allow for dealmaking. 'We are in the midst of negotiations with dozens of countries,' Lutnick raced to reassure her. 'We could sign deals but they're only going to get better as we negotiate them.' Dean then pivoted to her true subject, the cost of living, saying that residents of her suburban Philadelphia district were facing $2,000 a year increases to their grocery bills as a result of inflation, noting that Walmart, for one, had already raised the price of bananas by eight percent. 'Mr Trump promised to bring down the cost of goods, day one. And what he has done through his trade deficit fixation and his tariff chaos has nakedly increased the cost of goods,' she said. Brandishing a banana, Dean asked the secretary: 'What's the tariff on bananas? Americans, by the way, love bananas. We buy billions of them a year. I love bananas. What's the tariff on bananas?' 'The tariff on bananas would be representative of the countries that produce them,' Lutnick answered, estimating the rate at 10 percent when pushed. 'But the cost is on the American consumer now and on the businesses with the confusion now,' she hit back. 'Mr Secretary, I believe you know better. I believe you recognize that a trade deficit is not something to fear. I believe you know that predictability, stability is essential for businesses. I wish you would show that truth to this administration.' When Dean yielded her time, Lutnick asked for permission to respond to her and said: 'There's no uncertainty if you build in America and you produce your product in America. There will be no tariff.' 'We can't produce bananas in America,' she responded, incredulously. 'The concept of building in America and paying no tariffs is very, very clear,' said Lutnick. 'We cannot build bananas in America,' Dean repeated. 'Fighting for imports is not the same,' the secretary tried again. 'We cannot build bananas in America,' the representative repeated. While it is true that the United States cannot 'build' its own bananas and most are imported from Central American nations like Guatemala, Ecuador and Costa Rica, southern states like California, Florida, Arizona, Louisiana and Texas have the necessary climate to grow them but currently only do so in small quantities. Hawaii also grows bananas, as do the American territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands but, again, not currently on a scale sufficient to meet domestic demand.

US Supreme Court asked to pause order reinstating Education Department staff
US Supreme Court asked to pause order reinstating Education Department staff

BreakingNews.ie

time36 minutes ago

  • BreakingNews.ie

US Supreme Court asked to pause order reinstating Education Department staff

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to pause a court order to reinstate Education Department employees who were fired in mass lay-offs as part of President Donald Trump's plan to dismantle the agency. The Justice Department's emergency appeal to the high court on Friday said US District Judge Myong Joun in Boston exceeded his authority last month when he issued a preliminary injunction reversing the lay-offs of nearly 1,400 people and putting the broader plan on hold. Advertisement Mr Joun's order has blocked one of Mr Trump's biggest campaign promises and effectively stalled the effort to wind down the department. A federal appeals court refused to put the order on hold while the administration appealed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store