Former Chicago area man says he stepped in moments after Boulder, Colorado attack
Twelve people were injured in an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday, and the suspect is now facing federal hate crime charges.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, is accused of using a makeshift flamethrower and throwing Molotov cocktails at members of the group Run for Their Lives on Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder on Sunday afternoon. Police there said at least 12 people suffered burn injuries.
Run for Their Lives was holding a weekly walk and demonstration raising awareness for the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. Prosecutors said Soliman posed as a gardener to get close to the group, and planned to use the Molotov cocktails to kill them all.
Aaron Brooks is a member of Run for Their Lives Boulder, and stepped in moments after the attack. Brooks used to live in the north Chicago suburb of Highland Park, and saw the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting at a 4th of July parade that killed seven people in 2022.
Now, Brooks lives in Colorado. He attends the weekly walk with the local Run for Their Lives chapter in Boulder, and he said among the victims of the attack on Sunday was a Holocaust survivor.
"It's not a rally. It's not a protest," Brooks said of Run for Their Lives' events.
Prosecutors and witnesses like Brooks said Soliman yelled, "Free Palestine!"
"I saw smoke, fire — a guy standing with no shirt on, with two bottles in his hands," Brooks said.
Brooks moved to Boulder about three years ago from Highland Park. He showed up Sunday moments after the attack.
"I don't know what got into me, so I started to yell at the guy: 'What did you do? Why did you do this?' I still can't believe what I saw," said Brooks. "I'm not even close to surprised — and if anybody is surprised, they have not been paying attention."
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Soliman, originally from Egypt, was living in the U.S. illegally after entering the country three years ago and overstaying his tourist visa. He is now charged federally with the commission of a hate crime.
"When he was interviewed about the attack, he said he wanted them all to die, he had no regrets, and he would go back and do it again," said J. Bishop Grewell, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado.
In Chicago a Run for Their Lives chapter walked three hours before the attack in Boulder.
Brooks said his group will not be intimidated. But he said future meetups may look different.
"We are not afraid of anybody, and I want people to know that. But we're not stupid either," Brooks said. "We're being hunted, and when you're being hunted, you don't put yourself as the prey in front of the one with the gun."
Prosecutors said Soliman attempted to buy a gun to carry out the attack on Sunday, but was not able to do so because he is not a citizen. He instead turned to using incendiary devices, prosecutors said.
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