Colorado antisemitic attack suspect to appear in federal court on Friday amid widespread fear over antisemitic attacks
Crime
The Middle EastFacebookTweetLink
Follow
The Egyptian man accused of carrying out an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, is set to appear in federal court on Friday – a day after he was charged with 28 counts of attempted murder in connection to a firebombing that has sparked widespread fear across the Jewish community.
Mohamed Soliman, 45, allegedly used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to set people on fire during a downtown event held in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The attack occurred on the eve of Shavuot, a Jewish holiday, and less than two weeks after a separate antisemitic attack in Washington, DC, where two Israeli Embassy staff members were shot dead.
In a Public Service Announcement Thursday, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security highlighted 'potential public safety concerns related to ongoing threats to Jewish and Israeli communities.'
Soliman faces a federal hate crime charge in connection with the Boulder attack, an affidavit shows. He faces life in prison if convicted of the federal charge, acting United States Attorney for the District of Colorado J. Bishop Grewell said Monday.
On Thursday, Soliman appeared in court from a room in the Boulder County Jail before Colorado District Judge Nancy Salomone to face state charges. Wearing an orange zip-up jacket, Soliman nodded in response to the judge's questions.
He faces 118 counts, including 28 counts of first-degree attempted murder, according to court documents filed in the Boulder District Court.
Soliman also faces counts of felony assault, incendiary device charges, along with one count of animal cruelty, the document shows.
CNN has reached out to his attorney for comment.
A total of 62 of those counts relate to the victims. If convicted, Soliman could face up to 48 years in prison for each victim, said Michael Dougherty, the district attorney for Colorado's 20th Judicial District.
The attack injured at least 15 people – including a Holocaust survivor – as well as a dog. The victims included eight women and seven men between the ages of 25 and 88, according to the FBI, with several suffering severe burns.
Three victims remained hospitalized as of Thursday, Dougherty said.
He is due in court for a preliminary hearing on his state charges on July 15.
During the attack, Soliman reportedly yelled 'Free Palestine,' according to the FBI and later told authorities that 'he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,' an affidavit said.
Authorities are investigating whether Soliman has any underlying mental health issues, a source familiar with the investigation previously told CNN.
Investigators are also examining a notebook left behind by Soliman, which includes a manifesto written in English with some lines in Arabic, according to a law enforcement source. Police recovered the notebook after Soliman directed them to its location.
Investigators are also reviewing videos Soliman recorded on his phone, featuring him speaking in both English and Arabic, the source said.
One such video, which has surfaced on social media, appears to show Soliman speaking in Arabic while driving.
CNN has not independently confirmed the video's authenticity.
The attack is one of multiple recent incidents that has increased fear among the Jewish community in the US.
'The ongoing Israel-HAMAS conflict may motivate other violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators with similar grievances to conduct violence against Jewish and Israeli communities and their supporters,' the FBI and DHS warned in their public service announcement.
'Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States,' the announcement said.
The agencies urged the public to remain vigilant and report any threats of violence or suspicious activity to law enforcement.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett and interfaith leaders gathered Wednesday to denounce the attack and call for unity, according to a news release.
'Violence in any form has no place in Colorado, and we know that to move forward we must join together in our common humanity to ensure peace in our communities, take care of one another, and emerge stronger,' Polis said in a statement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
39 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Seattle man charged with string of burglaries at the homes of NFL and MLB stars
SEATTLE — A Seattle man was charged Friday with a string of burglaries at the homes of prominent current and former football and baseball players, marking the latest example of well-known athletes being targeted in home thefts. Earl Henderson Riley IV, 21, was charged with several counts of residential burglary in both occupied and unoccupied homes, along with first-degree robbery, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
7-year-old tried to save sisters with CPR after fatal stabbing in Streamwood, Illinois, prosecutors say; accused killer hid weapon, tried to sell car
As the man accused of stabbing and killing his two sisters last month in Streamwood was fleeing the scene and trying to avoid capture, the victims' 7-year-old brother tried to save their lives by performing CPR, prosecutors said on Friday. Jalonie Jenkins, 25, was arrested last Sunday night in Downers Grove following a manhunt, after the bodies of his sisters, Janiya Jenkins, 21, and Eyani Jones, 10, were found inside a home in the 1600 block of McKool Avenue on May 28. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Jenkins appeared in court for the first time after Wednesday's hearing was postponed due to him being in the hospital following his arrest. His attorney made the case that he was suffering from a mental health episode. He admitted the facts of the case are horrendous, but said Jenkins is being supported by his mother and other family members. Prosecutors said Jenkins lived in his childhood home with his mother and siblings. They said Eyani was on a Snapchat call with a friend when the stabbing attack occurred. Jenkins stabbed her at least 10 times and Janiya at least 12 times, all while two other young family members, 7 and 3, were playing outside. After the stabbings, the state's attorney said Jenkins locked the two younger children in a bathroom, hid the weapon, a kitchen knife, in the home, and left with a bag of bloody clothes in a Lexus registered to him. They said he tried to sell his car and turned off his phone to evade police. He admitted to stabbing his sisters. Meantime, Eyani's and Janiya's 7-year-old brother left the bathroom about 20 minutes after Jenkins locked him in, and found Janiya and Eyani covered in blood. He tried to perform CPR on them, but couldn't save them. He went back to the bathroom to get his niece, and ran to a nearby home, brought a neighbor back to the bloody crime scene, and then called their mother and 911, according to prosecutors. Jenkins' defense attorney said the accused killer is now on medication for psychosis and asked for a mental health evaluation, which the judge agreed to. Jenkins is due back in court on June 26 at 9 a.m. in Rolling Meadows.
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Utah judge rules a convicted killer with dementia is competent to be executed
Crime Getting older DementiaFacebookTweetLink Follow A convicted killer in Utah who developed dementia while on death row for 37 years is competent enough to be executed, a state judge ruled late Friday. Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was sentenced to die in 1988 for killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker. Despite his recent cognitive decline, Menzies 'consistently and rationally understands' what is happening and why he is facing execution, Judge Matthew Bates wrote in a court order. 'Menzies has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that his understanding of his specific crime and punishment has fluctuated or declined in a way that offends the Eighth Amendment,' which prohibits cruel and unusual punishments, Bates said. Menzies had previously selected a firing squad as his method of execution. He would become only the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977. The Utah Attorney General's Office is expected to file a death warrant soon. Menzies' lawyers, who had argued his dementia was so severe that he could not understand why he was being put to death, said they plan to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court. 'Ralph Menzies is a severely brain-damaged, wheelchair-bound, 67-year-old man with dementia and significant memory problems,' his attorney, Lindsey Layer, said in a statement. 'It is deeply troubling that Utah plans to remove Mr. Menzies from his wheelchair and oxygen tank to strap him into an execution chair and shoot him to death.' The U.S. Supreme Court has spared others prisoners with dementia from execution, including an Alabama man in 2019 who had killed a police officer. Over nearly four decades, attorneys for Menzies filed multiple appeals that delayed his death sentence, which had been scheduled at least twice before it was pushed back. Hunsaker, a 26-year-old married mother of three, was abducted by Menzies from the convenience store where she worked. She was later found strangled and her throat cut at a picnic area in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah. Menzies had Hunsaker's wallet and several other belongings when he was jailed on unrelated matters. He was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes. Matt Hunsaker, who was 10 years old when his mother was killed, said Friday that the family was overwhelmed with emotion to know that justice would finally be served.
