Boulder Attack Victims: What We Know
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A total of eight people were wounded when a pro-Palestinian attacker threw incendiary devices into a crowd gathered in solidarity with Israeli hostages in Colorado on Sunday.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, has been charged with first degree murder among other offenses, county jail records show, over the antisemitic attack on a Boulder vigil for hostages held in Gaza. Soliman shouted "Free Palestine" during the attack, which the FBI is investigating as an act of terror. Police have not yet confirmed whether anyone died in the attack.
Soliman is also facing felony charges for using explosives or incendiary devices, first degree assault, and causing serious injury to the elderly. He is being held in Boulder County Jail on a $10 million bond.
Sunday's victims were aged between 52 and 88, and attending a Run for Their Lives rally, which was raising awareness of the hostages' ongoing plight.
The eldest victim was a Holocaust refugee who fled Europe, Rabbi Israel Wilhelm, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado Boulder, told CBS Colorado.
Six of the victims were taken to local hospitals for treatment, the Boulder Office of Disaster Management said. Their ages range from 67 to 88.
Police offers at the scene of the attack in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday.
Police offers at the scene of the attack in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday.
AP
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Washington Post
21 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Boulder community to come together for vigil after firebombing attack that injured 12
BOULDER, Colo. — As members of the Boulder community reeled from a firebombing attack that injured 12 people demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages , residents prepared to come together for a vigil Wednesday. Mohamed Sabry Soliman had planned to kill all of the roughly 20 participants in Sunday's demonstration at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall, but he threw just two of his 18 Molotov cocktails while yelling 'Free Palestine,' police said. Soliman, an Egyptian man who federal authorities say has been living in the U.S. illegally , didn't carry out his full plan 'because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before,' police wrote in an affidavit. His wife and five children were taken into custody Tuesday by U.S. immigration officials, and the White House said they could be swiftly deported. It's rare that family members of a person accused of a crime are detained and threatened with deportation in this way. Soliman told authorities that no one, including his family, knew about his plans for the attack, according to court documents that, at times, spelled his name as 'Mohammed.' According to an FBI affidavit, Soliman told police he was driven by a desire 'to kill all Zionist people' — a reference to the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel. Authorities said he expressed no remorse about the attack. A vigil was scheduled for Wednesday evening at the local Jewish community center to support those impacted by the attack. Soliman was born in el-Motamedia, an Egyptian farming village in the Nile Delta province of Gharbia that's located about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cairo, according to an Egyptian security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media. Before moving to Colorado Springs three years ago, he spent 17 years in Kuwait, according to court documents. He has been living in the U.S. illegally, having arrived in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on X. She said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that it also expired. DHS did not respond to requests for additional information about the immigration status of his wife and children and the U.S. State Department said that visa records are confidential. The New York Times , citing McLaughlin, said his family's visas have since been revoked and they were arrested Tuesday by ICE. Hundreds of thousands of people overstay their visas each year in the United States, according to Homeland Security Department reports. Soliman told authorities that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting for his daughter to graduate before carrying it out, the affidavit said. A newspaper in Colorado Springs that profiled one of Soliman's children in April noted the family's journey from Egypt to Kuwait and then to the U.S. It said after initially struggling in school, she landed academic honors and volunteered at a local hospital. Soliman currently faces federal hate crime charges and attempted murder charges at the state level, but authorities say additional charges could be brought. He's being held in a county jail on a $10 million bond. His attorney, Kathryn Herold, declined to comment after a state court hearing Monday. Witnesses and police have said Soliman threw two incendiary devices, catching himself on fire as he hurled the second. Authorities said they believe Soliman acted alone. Although they did not elaborate on the nature of his injuries, a booking photo showed him with a large bandage over one ear. The attack unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war , which continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. The attack happened at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and barely a week after a man who also yelled 'Free Palestine' was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington. The victims ranged in age from 52 to 88, and their injuries spanned from serious to minor, officials said. They were members of the volunteer group called Run For Their Lives who were holding their weekly demonstration . Three victims were still hospitalized Tuesday at the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, spokesperson Kelli Christensen said. One of the 12 victims was a child when her family fled the Nazis during the Holocaust, said Ginger Delgado of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, who is acting as a spokesperson for the family of the woman, who doesn't want her name used. ___ Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker in Washington, Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
27 minutes ago
What we know about the visa obtained by Egyptian man who injured a dozen people in Colorado
The Egyptian man charged with injuring a dozen people in Boulder, Colorado, in an attack on demonstrators seeking the release of Israeli hostages is among hundreds of thousands of people known to overstay their visas each year in the United States. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was born in Egypt and moved three years ago to Colorado Springs, where he lived with his wife and five children, according to state court documents. He lived for 17 years in Kuwait. Soliman entered the country in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, according to Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. She said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that also expired. The department did not respond to requests for additional information. Federal immigration authorities took Soliman's wife and children into custody Tuesday. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said authorities were investigating whether his family knew about his plan. There were 565,155 visa overstays from October 2022 through September 2023 among visitors who arrived by plane or ship — more than the population of the metro areas of Reno, Nevada, or Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to Homeland Security's most recent annual report. The total number of overstays is much larger but has not been quantified because it does not include how many people arrive and leave by land. The cost and technological hurdles to develop a checkout system at congested land crossings are enormous. The overstay rate for Egyptians on business or tourist visas was 4% in 2023, well below some of the biggest offenders such as Chad (49%), Laos (34%) and Sudan (26%). Historically, academics have estimated that roughly 40% of people in the United States illegally stayed past their visas, but reliable numbers are difficult to come by. In 2016, Homeland Security published the number of overstays for the first time in at least two decades. Homeland Security did not say. But asylum seekers become eligible for work authorization 180 days after arrival. That correlates with him arriving in the country in August 2022 and obtaining the work permit in March 2023. Some critics say work permits create a huge magnet for asylum applications from people with weak cases. Immigration courts are backlogged with about 3.6 million cases, which can take years to resolve. The relative ease with which asylum seekers gain work permits has also fueled some tensions with people who have been in the country illegally for years or decades. Immigration court records are not public, and the status of Soliman's asylum case is unclear. Egyptians had an asylum grant rate of 72% during the 12-month period through September 2024, compared with 45% for all nationalities, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
Associated Press
32 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Boulder community to come together for vigil after firebombing attack that injured 12
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — As members of the Boulder community reeled from a firebombing attack that injured 12 people demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages, residents prepared to come together for a vigil Wednesday. Mohamed Sabry Soliman had planned to kill all of the roughly 20 participants in Sunday's demonstration at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall, but he threw just two of his 18 Molotov cocktails while yelling 'Free Palestine,' police said. Soliman, an Egyptian man who federal authorities say has been living in the U.S. illegally, didn't carry out his full plan 'because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before,' police wrote in an affidavit. His wife and five children were taken into custody Tuesday by U.S. immigration officials, and the White House said they could be swiftly deported. It's rare that family members of a person accused of a crime are detained and threatened with deportation in this way. Soliman told authorities that no one, including his family, knew about his plans for the attack, according to court documents that, at times, spelled his name as 'Mohammed.' According to an FBI affidavit, Soliman told police he was driven by a desire 'to kill all Zionist people' — a reference to the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel. Authorities said he expressed no remorse about the attack. A vigil was scheduled for Wednesday evening at the local Jewish community center to support those impacted by the attack. Defendant's immigration status Soliman was born in el-Motamedia, an Egyptian farming village in the Nile Delta province of Gharbia that's located about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cairo, according to an Egyptian security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media. Before moving to Colorado Springs three years ago, he spent 17 years in Kuwait, according to court documents. He has been living in the U.S. illegally, having arrived in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on X. She said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that it also expired. DHS did not respond to requests for additional information about the immigration status of his wife and children and the U.S. State Department said that visa records are confidential. The New York Times, citing McLaughlin, said his family's visas have since been revoked and they were arrested Tuesday by ICE. Hundreds of thousands of people overstay their visas each year in the United States, according to Homeland Security Department reports. The case against Soliman Soliman told authorities that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting for his daughter to graduate before carrying it out, the affidavit said. A newspaper in Colorado Springs that profiled one of Soliman's children in April noted the family's journey from Egypt to Kuwait and then to the U.S. It said after initially struggling in school, she landed academic honors and volunteered at a local hospital. Soliman currently faces federal hate crime charges and attempted murder charges at the state level, but authorities say additional charges could be brought. He's being held in a county jail on a $10 million bond. His attorney, Kathryn Herold, declined to comment after a state court hearing Monday. Witnesses and police have said Soliman threw two incendiary devices, catching himself on fire as he hurled the second. Authorities said they believe Soliman acted alone. Although they did not elaborate on the nature of his injuries, a booking photo showed him with a large bandage over one ear. The attack unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, which continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. The attack happened at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and barely a week after a man who also yelled 'Free Palestine' was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington. Six victims hospitalized The victims ranged in age from 52 to 88, and their injuries spanned from serious to minor, officials said. They were members of the volunteer group called Run For Their Lives who were holding their weekly demonstration. Three victims were still hospitalized Tuesday at the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, spokesperson Kelli Christensen said. One of the 12 victims was a child when her family fled the Nazis during the Holocaust, said Ginger Delgado of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, who is acting as a spokesperson for the family of the woman, who doesn't want her name used. ___ Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker in Washington, Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
