Boulder ‘targeted terror attack': Who is FBI-identified suspect Mohamed Soliman who shouted ‘free Palestine'?
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged a 45-year-old man identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman for launching a "targeted terror attack" that took place in Colorado's Boulder on Sunday.
According to Boulder Police Department (BPD) Chief Steve Redfearn, officers responded to the county courthouse on Pearl Street around 1:26 pm. local time after receiving reports of a man armed with a weapon and setting people on fire.
Mohammad Soliman, 45, injured many people at the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, with the extent of injuries not confirmed, which ranges from minor to more severe, the local law enforcement stated. He got injured as well, reports said.
Soliman targeted the American Jewish organisation Run for Their Lives, which hosts events advocating for the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas, their website read. FBI Special Agent McCullough mentioned that the agency had established based on preliminary facts that Soliman launched a "targeted attack" and that the agency would probe the attack as an act of terrorism.
The BPD and FBI stated that he was shouting "Free Palestine" during the attack and was arrested at the scene, the report said.
Six victims, aged 67 to 88, were shifted to local hospitals after Soliman used a "makeshift flamethrower" and thew "an incendiary device" into the crowd. Four of the victims from the attack were transported to Boulder Community Hospital, while two others were airlifted to the Burn Unit at Aurora Hospital.
Soliman remains in police custody, reports said.
According to police, all six victims are still receiving treatment; one is in serious condition, while the others sustained less severe injuries.
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel called the attack as a "targeted terror attack," but Boulder Police Chief Redfearn at a previous press briefing stated 'it would be irresponsible for me to speculate on motive this early on.'
'We are aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado. Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available,' Patel said.
Meanwhile, a senior White House official informed Newsweek that President Donald Trump "has been briefed" on the attack.
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Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
What is the Muslim Brotherhood? Boulder suspect Mohamed Soliman praised radical Islamist group in disturbing posts
Boulder attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, had praised radical Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood on social media in the years before the Colorado incident. Several people were hospitalized with burns after Soliman tossed Molotov cocktails at a group that had gathered in support of Israeli hostages. Soliman, an Egyptian national identified by the White House as an 'illegal alien' who overstayed his visa, had filled his Facebook account with posts in support for the Muslim Brotherhood, CNN reported. The page was last updated a decade ago, and featured several photos of Mohamed Morsi, the group's leader. Morsi served as Egypt's president from 2012 to 2013, but was eventually ousted in a military coup. Morsi was Egypt's first democratically elected president. He rose to power after vowing to end autocracy and promising that a transparent government would respect human rights. However, protests that were soon held accused Morsi of seizing unlimited powers and using violence against opponents. He was also accused of imposing the Brotherhood's conservative brand of Islam. Soliman had shared posts backing the Muslim Brotherhood protests against Morsi's removal. One August 2013 post even featured a four-finger salute, a symbol that was used to show support for the Rabaa protest encampment, which was dispersed in the violence during the Morsi-linked unrest. After being arrested, Soliman told investigators that he wanted to 'kill all Zionist people,' according to the New York Post. He had been planning the attack for a year, according to prosecutors. The Muslim Brotherhood is Egypt's oldest and largest Islamist organization, and has offshoots throughout the Arab world. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, 'After the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak in the Arab Spring protests of 2011, the group's political arm won a plurality of seats in Egypt's lower house of parliament and its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, was elected president. But Morsi was ousted by the military in July 2013, and the Brotherhood's members were imprisoned, went into exile, or were forced underground.' It added, 'As part of a wide-ranging crackdown on political opposition, the Egyptian government has labeled the group a terrorist organization, as have Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). U.S. President Donald J. Trump has expressed interest in following suit, but many experts say a designation—whether of the original Egyptian group or of kindred groups throughout the region—would stretch the bounds of the law and also complicate U.S. diplomacy across much of the Middle East and North Africa.'
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
FBI reacts to Colorado attacker Mohamed Sabry Soliman not being charged with terror: 'We are not Federal Bureau of Word Games'
The Department of Justice charged Colorado attacker Mohamed Sabru Soliman with hate crime and no counts related to terrorism, while FBI director Kash Patel called the Boulder attack a targeted terrorism against the Jewish community. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now FBI deputy director Dan Bongino clarified that the FBI will investigate the attack as a targeted terror. Explaining the difference between the DoJ and the FBI, Bongino said everyone is innocent until proven guilty in the justice system. "But we are the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We are not the Federal Bureau of Word Games," Bongino said. "When the evidence passed to our FBI leadership team, from an active crime scene, includes clearly ideologically-motivated statements, video, multiple witness accounts, Molotov cocktails, and large gatherings of like-minded people, we will INVESTIGATE those incidents as targeted acts of terror," Dan said. Why Mohamed Sabry Soliman was not charged with terror To charge someone with terror, the prosecutor would have to prove at trial that the person is either associated with, or inspired by designated foreign terrorist organisations. Without this, it is difficult for the Justice Department to bring terrorism charges. Soliman was not a known offender, and no ties to any organization were found in the preliminary investigation. An Egyptian illegally staying in the US after his visa expired in March this year, Soliman said he threw only two Molotov cocktails as he got scared, as he had never hurt anyone before. He told the law enforcement that he had been planning the attack for the last year but waited for his daughter to graduate. He wanted to kill all Zionists and knew about the Jewish group in Colorado that assembled every Sunday, demanding the release of the Israelis imprisoned in Gaza. Though there was no fatality as the fire was immediately put out, 12 people were injured. Soliman planned on dying in the attack and he mentioned several times to the law enforcement officers that he wanted to be dead.
New Indian Express
7 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Suspect in Boulder attack planned to kill group he called 'Zionist,' but appeared to have second thoughts
BOULDER: A man in Boulder disguised as a gardener who wounded 12 people in an attack on a group holding their weekly demonstration for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza had planned to kill them all but appeared to have second thoughts, according to authorities. Mohamed Sabry Soliman had 18 Molotov cocktails but threw just two during Sunday's attack in which he yelled 'Free Palestine," police said. He didn't carry out his full plan 'because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before,' police wrote in an affidavit. The two incendiary devices he did throw into the group of about 20 people were enough to wound more than half of them, and authorities said he expressed no regrets about the attack. The 45-year-old Soliman — whose first name also was spelled Mohammed in some court documents — planned the attack for more than a year and specifically targeted what he described as a 'Zionist group,' authorities said in court papers charging him with a federal 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,' Acting U.S. Attorney J. Bishop Grewell for the District of Colorado said during a news conference Monday. Federal and state prosecutors filed separate criminal cases against Soliman, charging him with a hate crime and attempted murder, respectively. He faces additional state charges related to the incendiary devices, and more charges are possible in federal court, where the Justice Department will seek a grand jury indictment. Soliman is being held on a $10 million, cash-only bond, prosecutors said. His next court hearing is set for Thursday. An FBI affidavit says Soliman told the police he was driven by a desire 'to kill all Zionist people,' a reference to the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel. Soliman's attorney, public defender Kathryn Herold, declined to comment after the hearing. Soliman was living in the U.S. illegally after entering the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on the social platform X. The burst of violence at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, which continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. The attack happened on the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and barely a week after a man who also yelled 'Free Palestine' was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington. Six victims hospitalized The victims who were wounded range in age from 52 to 88, and the injuries spanned from serious to minor, officials said. Six of the injured were taken to hospitals, and four have since been released, said Miri Kornfeld, a Denver-based organizer connected to the group. She said the clothing of one of those who remains hospitalized caught on fire. Members of the volunteer group called Run For Their Lives were holding their weekly demonstration when the attack happened. Video from the scene captured by witness Alex Osante of San Diego shows people pouring water on a woman lying on the ground who Osante said had caught fire during the attack. Molotov cocktails found Osante said that after the suspect threw the two incendiary devices, apparently catching himself on fire as he threw the second, he took off his shirt and what appeared to be a bulletproof vest before police arrived. The man dropped to the ground and was arrested without any apparent resistance in the video Osante filmed. The Molotov cocktails were made up of glass wine carafe bottles or jars with clear liquid and red rags hanging out of the them, the FBI said. 'He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack,' the affidavit says. He had gas in a backpack sprayer but told investigators he didn't spray it on anyone but himself 'because he had planned on dying.' Soliman also told investigators he took a concealed carry class and tried to buy a gun but was denied because he is not a legal U.S. citizen. Suspect hospitalized after attack Authorities said they believe Soliman acted alone. He was also injured and taken to a hospital. Authorities did not elaborate on the nature of his injuries, but a booking photo showed him with a large bandage over one ear. Soliman, who was born in Egypt, moved three years ago to Colorado Springs, where he lived with his wife and five kids, according to state court documents. He previously spent 17 years living in Kuwait. McLaughlin said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023 that had expired. DHS did not respond to requests for additional information.
