Colorado firebomb suspect planned attack for a year, prosecutors say as charges laid
An Egyptian national charged with
tossing petrol bombs at a pro-Israeli rally in Boulder , Colorado, injuring a dozen people, planned his attack for a year and used Molotov cocktails instead of a gun because his non-citizen status blocked him from buying firearms, prosecutors said on Monday.
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Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, told investigators that he wanted to 'kill all Zionist people' but had delayed committing the attack until after his daughter had graduated from high school, according to state and federal court documents charging him with attempted murder, assault and a federal hate crime.
Police and FBI affidavits quoted the suspect as saying he took firearms training to obtain a concealed-carry permit but ended up using Molotov cocktails because of his immigration status. Soliman told investigators that he had learned how to make the fire bombs from YouTube.
Federal authorities said Soliman was in the country illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa and an expired work permit. Trump administration officials immediately seized on Sunday's violence as an example of why they are cracking down on illegal immigration.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman in a jail booking photograph after his arrest. Photo: Boulder Police Department via Reuters
A police affidavit filed in support of Soliman's arrest warrant said he was born in Egypt, lived in Kuwait for 17 years and moved three years ago to Colorado Springs, about 161km (100 miles) south of Boulder, where he lived with his wife and five children.
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