Boulder firebombing suspect charged with 118 criminal counts
Soliman faces over a dozen attempted murder charges, two counts of using explosive devices, over a dozen counts of attempting to use an incendiary device, five counts of assault on someone over the age of 70 and one count of cruelty towards animals.
Those charges could add up to as many as 384 years in prison, according to Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty.
More state and federal charges could be added as the investigation into the Boulder, Colorado attack at a pedestrian mall continues, authorities have said.
Soliman appeared in court behind a transparent parition where he was asked to shake his head or nod in response to questions. Judge Nancy Salomone ordered him back in court on July 15.
The June 1 attack, in which Soliman is accused of hurling Molotov cocktails and using a makeshift flamethrower, targeted Run for Their Lives, a group advocating for the release of the hostages held in Gaza since the assault on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
Authorities say Soliman, who's lived in Colorado Springs after coming to the U.S. on a tourist visa in late 2022 and stayed after it expired, injured 15 people ages 52 to 88, with burns ranging from serious to minor.
The 45-year-old Soliman said "he wanted them to all die . . . He said he would go back and do it again and had no regret doing what he did," Boulder Detective John Sailer wrote in court papers. Soliman explained that, to him, anyone who supported the existence of Israel on "our land" is Zionist. He defined "our land" as Palestine, court documents said.
Soliman threw two of the 18 Molotov cocktails he'd brought with him to the pedestrian mall, authorities said, yelling "Free Palestine.
A federal affidavit charging Soliman with a hate crime and attempted murder says he learned about the demonstration from an online search. He planned the attack for a year and waited for his daughter to graduate from high school before executing it, according to the affidavit. He hoped to use a gun and had taken classes, but his immigration status prevented him from purchasing a firearm, the affidavit says.
Instead, court documents say, he taught himself to make Molotov cocktails from YouTube videos. No one knew about his plans, he told investigators, though he left a journal behind for his family.
Soliman's wife and five children are currently in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials; the Trump administration plans to have them deported.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS FBI issues urgent warning about 'elevated threat' to Jewish communities following Colorado attack
Security officials have issued an urgent warning about the 'elevated threat' to Jewish communities nationwide following two recent antisemitic attacks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the public service announcement, warning people to stay vigilant as the ongoing violence in Gaza may 'motivate' further attacks. Officials cited two recent threats at the basis for the warning: the May shooting at the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington DC, and the recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado. '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 release stated. 'Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States. 'The FBI and DHS therefore urge the public to remain vigilant and to report any threats of violence or suspicious activity to law enforcement.' The warning comes after 12 people were injured in Boulder during a vigil for the Jewish hostages still held captive by Hamas in Gaza. The group was carrying out a weekly silent walk in solidarity with the hostages as it has done ever since the October 7 attack. But the peaceful protest quickly descended into chaos when 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman allegedly launched a violent attack on a group of about 30 demonstrators, using a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to set eight victims on fire. The attack left twelve people injured, among them an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor. Soliman's wife and five children were taken into custody by agents with ICE and Homeland Security just two days later. Soliman arrived in the United States from Egypt in August 2022, but overstayed his initial tourist visa and was ultimately handed a two-year work permit by the Biden administration, which he also overstayed, as reported by Fox News. The family was expected to be processed for expedited removal, which would allow authorities to rapidly deport them without a hearing in an immigration court. Authorities said they found 16 unused Molotov cocktails when they arrested Soliman, adding that he only threw two of the devices because 'he was scared and had never hurt anyone before'. Agents also recovered a journal from Soliman's home in which he detailed his plans for the attack, and said he wanted to 'kill all Zionists', according to an affidavit on his arrest. The document also revealed that Soliman plotted the firebombing for over a year, but waited until after his daughter's graduation to conduct the attack. He is now facing 16 counts of attempted murder and federal hate crime charges. The Colorado attack came just over a week after a man was arrested over the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, on May 22. The victims were identified as German-Israeli dual national Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and his girlfriend Sarah Milgrim, 26. The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, repeatedly shouted 'Free Palestine' after shooting them dead - all while police dragged him away. The couple, who were set to get engaged just a week from their deaths, had attended a Young Diplomats event before they were shot that night. In the moments before the deadly shooting, Rodriguez was reportedly seen pacing back and forth before allegedly opening fire on a group of four people standing outside the museum. Jewish human rights organization the Simon Wiesenthal Center told Daily Mail the Boulder attack came on the first day of a religious holiday. He blamed the attack, as well as the murders of the Israeli embassy staffers, on 'months of anti-Israel propaganda, moral equivocation, and silence in the face of raging antisemitism'. 'The nonstop demonization of Israel and Zionism on our campuses, in our streets, and across digital platforms has created a climate where hate flourishes, and physical attacks—even murder—of Jews is inevitable,' Berk said. Rodriguez had reportedly entered the building and was offered both water and comfort by attendees, who assumed he was a victim of the shooting. According to a witness, after spending about 15 minutes inside the museum in an apparent state of shock, he asked someone to call police and confessed. He was then taken into custody. Rodriguez was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with the murder of foreign officials, causing death through the use of a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, according to the United States Attorney's Office.
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
U.S. Salvadoran family's tough journey to Canada: 'We didn't want to be deported'
Aracely Serrano Ayala said she felt her world was ending several times in the last three months. After living and working in the U.S. for more than a decade, the 35-year-old resident of Plainfield, New Jersey, and her partner, Marcos Guardado, began to live in fear because they were undocumented immigrants. The Salvadoran couple never started the process of seeking a green card. As the Trump administration increased its deportation efforts, in March they decided to embark on a journey to Canada with their two daughters and apply for asylum there, where Serrano's brother is a citizen. 'We wanted a better future, to legalize our status and continue working," said Serrano, "but the United States gave us no hope." Serrano said nothing prepared her and her family for being turned away twice at the Canadian border, detained by U.S. immigration authorities and separated from her husband for several weeks, after he was transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. Serrano and her family are now living legally in Canada, but their story illustrates the complexities of the immigration and the asylum process, both in the U.S. and Canada. 'We just wanted to get out of the country and never imagined we would go through all this,' she says, her voice breaking. An opportunity in Canada - and unexpected setbacks Under the 2015 Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between Canada and the United States, asylum-seekers must seek protection in the first safe country they arrive in. That is, if someone enters the U.S. first and meets the requirements, they must begin their asylum application there and cannot do so in Canada, and vice versa. However, there are exceptions in the agreement. If a person enters Canadian territory from the U.S. and can prove they have a close relative in the country who meets certain requirements (being of legal age, having Canadian citizenship or being a permanent resident, among other conditions), the person can enter the country and is allowed to begin their asylum application. 'I was hopeful because I know this agreement exists — and my brother had been there for 20 years,' Serrano said. But when the family got to the Canadian border, issues with documentation and even a misunderstanding over how last names are used in Latin America prevented them from being allowed into Canada and led to their detention in the U.S., illustrating the difficulties around migration and entry into another country. Serrano said that when she and he family crossed the Rainbow Bridge into Canada, "our dream of entering the country had collapsed," as Canadian border officials flagged several issues with their Salvadoran documents. One of the birth certificates had a mistake regarding Serrano's mother's name, Serrano's Canadian attorney, Heather Neufeld, said. Though there was a correction note in the margins, the border officials didn't pay attention to that and thought there was a discrepancy in their names, so they didn't accept it,' Neufeld said in an interview. The attorney added that another aspect complicating the process was that on one document, Serrano's father appeared with only one of his surnames, while on other documents, he had both. 'The [Canadian] officers didn't understand that in Latin America, people have two last names, but sometimes only one appears on the documents. So they thought they were fake. It was a series of errors made by border officials, when in fact, they were legitimate documents,' Neufeld said. Telemundo Noticias requested comment from the Canada Border Security Agency on the Serrano and Guardado case. Although authorities declined to comment on the Salvadoran family's case out of respect for their privacy, Luke Reimer, a spokesperson for the agency, said in a statement that port-of-entry officials are the ones who determine whether the evidence demonstrates that the asylum-seeker is subject to the Canada-United States Agreement. After the couple was declared inadmissible, Canadian authorities deported them back to the U.S., where they were detained at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility. 'They checked our documents there at U.S. immigration and then took us to a cell. It was a place with no windows or bathroom. When we wanted to go to the bathroom, we had to tell them to take us,' said Serrano. She said they were held there for two weeks. At the end of March, Serrano said, without warning, U.S. immigration agents sent them back to the Rainbow Bridge port of entry, but because they had the same papers, they were deported again to the U.S. Serrano, Guardado and Neufeld said that neither U.S. nor Canadian authorities have explained who made the decision to take them back to the Canadian port of entry. This is important because generally people only have one opportunity to resubmit their case to authorities. Noticias Telemundo contacted the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and CBP for comment on the case, but didn't receive a response. After the second deportation, Serrano and her daughters were separated from Guardado, who was transferred to an ICE detention center. Guardado said he'd never been imprisoned in his life; "it was the first time that happened to me, and I was there for a month and a few days,' he said, adding that he only had a few minutes to say goodbye to his daughters. However, things began to change. While Guardado was in detention, U.S. authorities placed Serrano in an electronic bracelet and released her along with her daughters. They spent a few days in a shelter in Buffalo, New York, and their case began to attract attention in the Canadian media. Neufeld then filed an official appeal with Canadian authorities. 'We submitted all the evidence with our arguments, but they sent us a one-sentence letter stating that they weren't going to change their initial decision, so the only option left was a petition in federal court,' Neufeld said. On May 5, the Canadian government agreed to allow Serrano and her two daughters to enter the country to begin the asylum application process. Meanwhile, Guardado remained detained in the U.S. and had to post a $12,000 bond to attend the interview with Canadian authorities to be able to reunite with his family. They turned to their family and close friends, all from the same Salvadoran town as Serrano and Guardado. "They all raised the bail to get me out; some put up $50, others $500," Guardado said. "Little by little, it all came together. I have a list of more than 500 people who helped me." Guardado recalled the day they told him he was entering Canada. 'I was able to be with them and hug my crying girls,' Guardado said. Serrano said the biggest difference she's experienced living in Canada is a sense of security and freedom that comforts her. 'We're no longer afraid. Imagine having that freedom with my girls, to go anywhere, without the fear that they'll find us and deport us without us committing any crime,' she said. But while the family begins a new life in Canada, bad news continue to cloud their horizon. Guardado's brother, Jaime — who's married to a naturalized U.S. citizen from El Salvador and was planning to go back to El Salvador as part of his green card process — was detained in New Jersey and continues to be in ICE custody.
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Man charged with hate crime in Boulder attack on 'Zionist people' to appear in federal court
A man who told investigators he was driven by a desire 'to kill all Zionist people' when he threw Molotov cocktails at demonstrators raising awareness of Israeli hostages is set to make his first appearance in federal court on Friday to face a hate crime charge. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, is accused in Sunday's attack on the weekly event in Boulder, which investigators say he planned for a year. The federal case is being adjudicated in Denver, but Soliman was also charged in state court in Boulder Thursday with attempted murder and assault counts as well as counts related to the 18 Molotov cocktails police say he carried to the demonstration. Federal authorities say Soliman, an Egyptian national, has been living in the U.S. illegally. Soliman is represented by state and federal public defenders, who do not comment on their cases to the media. Investigators say Soliman told them he had intended to kill all of the roughly 20 participants at the weekly demonstration on Boulder's popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall, but he threw just two of his 18 Molotov cocktails while yelling 'Free Palestine.' Soliman told investigators he tried to buy a gun but was not able to because he was not a 'legal citizen.' Soliman did not carry out his full plan 'because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before,' police wrote in an arrest affidavit. State prosecutors say 15 people and a dog were victims of the attack. Not all were physically injured, and some are considered victims for the legal case because they were in the area and could potentially have been hurt, 20th Judicial District Michael Dougherty said Thursday. The dog was among the injured, which resulted in an animal cruelty charge being filed against Soliman, Dougherty said. Soliman told investigators that he waited until after his daughter graduated from school before launching the attack, according to court documents. Federal authorities want to deport Soliman's wife and their five children, who range from 4 to 17 years old, but a judge issued an emergency order Wednesday halting deportation proceedings until a lawsuit challenging their deportation can be considered. U.S. immigration officials took Soliman's wife and children into custody on Tuesday. They are being held at a family immigration detention center in Texas.
