Boulder, Colorado attack suspect charged with federal hate crime
Mohammed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in Sunday's attack in Boulder, Colorado where eight people were injured at a rally calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, has been charged with federal hate crimes, court documents show.
Soliman, 45, is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at members of the group Run for Their Lives on Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder on Sunday afternoon. Police say eight people suffered burn injuries and three were taken to UCHealth's burn unit.
"The Department of Justice has swiftly charged the illegal alien perpetrator of this heinous attack with a federal hate crime and will hold him accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our prayers are with the victims and our Jewish community across the world," U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement Monday.
FBI Special Agent Jessica Krueger wrote in a federal probable cause affidavit that Soliman committed a hate crime "by throwing Molotov cocktails into a pro-Israel crowd while yelling "Free Palestine" and injuring eight individuals."
An FBI team is investigating an attack on demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, at the scene on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1, 2025.
Eli Imadali /AFP via Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security says Soliman is an Egyptian national who entered the U.S. in August 2022 on a B2 non-immigrant tourism visa, applied for asylum the following month, and continued living in the country after his visa expired in February 2023. The FBI says he's been living in Colorado Springs with his wife and five children. Agents searched his home Monday morning.
The group has walked on the Pearl Street Mall once a week every week since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel. Group members call for the release of the Israeli hostages taken into Gaza.
On Sunday, investigators say Soliman threw two lit Molotov cocktails -- glass bottles or jars with red rags hanging out filled with gasoline -- at participants. They also said they found a plastic container with at least 14 unlit Molotov cocktails, a car belonging to Soliman with more red rags, a red gas container, and paperwork with the words "Israel," "Palestine," and "USAID."
Investigators also say they found a backpack weed sprayer with 87 octane gasoline.
After the attack, Soliman was taken into custody by Boulder police officers without incident, according to Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn and witnesses' video.
Mohammed Soliman is taken into custody by Boulder police officers in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday, June 1, 2025.
X / @OpusObscuraX
The FBI says they interviewed Soliman after he was taken into custody. He allegedly admitted to learning how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube, making them, and targeting the gathering.
"He stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead," according to the affidavit. "He specifically targeted the "Zionist Group" that had gathered in Boulder having learned about the group from an online search."
"Throughout the interview, Soliman stated that he hated the Zionist group and did this because he hated this group and needed to stop them from taking over 'our land,' which he explained to be Palestine," the affidavit continued. "He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack."
He told investigators that he left a phone in a desk drawer at home with messages to his family, as well as a journal, the FBI said.
After he was arrested, his wife took her husband's iPhone to the Colorado Springs Police Department.
In a video that has since been widely circulated on social media, the FBI, said Soliman is seen in the video saying "how many children killed" and "end Zionist."
Federal investigators believe the bottles and gasoline used in the attack were manufactured in another state.
Soliman is due in court at 1:30 p.m. MST and local and federal officials are expected to have a news conference afterward.
You can read the full affidavit here:
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