Suspect in Colorado attack on Israeli hostage event charged with hate crime
Officials filed a federal hate crime charge Monday against the man accused of attacking an event organized by a Jewish group – just before he was set to appear in court in Boulder, Colorado. Authorities said they are investigating the incident, in which eight people were injured, as a targeted act of terrorism.
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Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, yelled 'Free Palestine' as he used a makeshift flamethrower and tossed an incendiary device into the crowd at the Colorado pedestrian mall, where there was an event calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, police said Sunday, citing witness accounts.
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A criminal complaint said Soliman 'specifically targeted the 'Zionist Group' that had gathered in Boulder, having learned about the group from an online search,' and that he had been planning the attack for a year. 'He stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,' the complaint said.
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Soliman was taken into custody Sunday and initial charges against him included eight felonies, including murder in the first degree, though Boulder police confirmed Tuesday morning that no one died as a result of the attack and said on X that more details would be forthcoming.
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Police and the prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to questions about the charges, which also included first-degree assault, using explosives or an incendiary device during a felony and crimes against an at-risk adult or elderly person.
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Soliman, of El Paso County in Colorado, is being held on a $10 million bond, according to jail records. He is set to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. local time Monday, according to court records.
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The attack quickly became a flash point on the right over immigration, as the Department of Homeland Security said Soliman entered the country on a B-2 tourist visa in August 2022. The visa expired in February 2023, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, though Soliman applied for asylum in September 2022. DHS did not respond to further questions about how the asylum case has been adjudicated or where it stands.
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President Donald Trump in a post on Truth Social Tuesday said 'Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law' and that the attack was 'yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE' – and called for the suspect's deportation.
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The eight victims – four men and four women – are 52 to 88 years old. Their identities and conditions have not been released.
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The attack occurred during a weekly walk organized by the global group Run for Their Lives, which says online that it advocates 'for the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas' in Gaza. It took place on the eve of Shavuot, a two-day holiday that celebrates God giving the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. The group said in a statement that its walk was 'brutally disrupted in a violent assault.'
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