Was the Boulder attack terrorism or a hate crime? 2 experts unpack the complexities

Yahoo

13 hours ago

Twelve people in Boulder, Colorado, were injured by a man wielding a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails on June 1, 2025. Those burned in the attack were taking part in a peaceful, silent walk on Pearl Street, a pedestrian mall, with the aim of raising awareness about Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, yelled, 'Free Palestine,' according to local news reports. Soliman is an Egyptian immigrant who was living in the U.S. illegally after his tourist visa and work authorization both expired.
On June 3, Soliman's family, who lived with him in Colorado Springs, were detained by federal immigration authorities. Soliman's wife and five children were placed in expedited removal proceedings.
The FBI and local authorities initially said they were investigating a 'targeted terror attack'. But Soliman was later charged with hate crimes in federal court. He also faces attempted murder and other charges in state court.
We study terrorism and hate crimes.
Whether an attack like the one in Boulder is considered an act of terrorism or a hate crime changes the way a suspect is charged and sentenced.
Let's look at how these two terms differ.
Hate crimes are crimes motivated by bias on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity. In some states, gender, age and gender identity are also included. Hate crime laws have been passed by 47 states and the federal government since the 1980s, when activists first began to press state legislatures to recognize the role of bias in violence against minority groups. Today, only Arkansas, South Carolina and Wyoming do not have hate crime laws.
Colorado's 2024 statute prohibits bias-motivated attacks based on a wide variety of categories, from ancestry to gender identity.
In order to be charged as a hate crime, attacks – whether vandalism, assault or killings – must be directed at individuals because of the prohibited biases. Hate crimes, in other words, punish motive; the prosecutor must convince the judge or jury that the victim was targeted because of their race, religion, sexual orientation or other protected characteristic.
If the defendant is found to have acted with bias motivation, hate crimes often add an additional penalty to the underlying charge. Charging people with a hate crime, then, presents additional layers of complexity to what may otherwise be a straightforward case for prosecutors. Bias motivation can be hard to prove, and prosecutors can be reluctant to take cases that they may not win in court.
Terrorism is a violent tactic – a strategy used to achieve a specific end.
This strategy is often used in asymmetric power struggles when a weaker person, or group, is fighting against a powerful nation-state. The violence is aimed at creating fear in the targeted population.
Terrorists often justify their bloody acts on the basis of perceived social, economic and political unfairness. Or they take inspiration from religious beliefs or spiritual principles.
Many forms of terrorism were inspired by struggle between races, the rich and poor, or political outcasts and elites.
How different terrorist groups act is informed by what they are trying to achieve. Some adopt a reactionary perspective aimed at stopping or resisting social, economic and political changes. Others adopt a revolutionary doctrine and want to provoke change.
In the United States, terrorism attacks were in sharp decline from 1970 to 2011, decreasing from approximately 475 incidents a year to fewer than 20.
The U.S. government began to take more note of domestic terrorism after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. And the number of domestic terrorism incidents began to rise after 2011, with notable increases in the mid-to-late 2010s and early 2020s.
Data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies shows right-wing terrorist attacks and plots grew substantially during the past decade, with right-wing extremists being responsible for the majority of attacks and plots each year since 2011, except for 2013. There were 44 incidents in 2019 alone.
The Department of Homeland Security's 2025 Homeland Threat Assessment indicates that the terrorism threat environment in the United States remains high, driven largely by domestic violent extremists motivated by a mix of racial, religious and anti-government grievances.
Terrorism is not a successful tactic. American University professor Audrey Cronin studied 457 terrorist groups worldwide going back to 1968. The groups lasted an average of eight years before they lost support or were dismantled. No terrorist organizations that she studied were able to conquer a state, and 94% were unable to achieve even one of their strategic goals.
Portions of this article originally appeared in articles published on March 19, 2021, and May 23, 2017.
Read more of our stories about Colorado.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Frederic Lemieux, Georgetown University and Jeannine Bell, Loyola University Chicago
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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.