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Nahar Net
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
US judge halts deportation of Egyptian family of Boulder firebombing suspect
by Naharnet Newsdesk 05 June 2025, 11:15 A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the government to immediately halt deportation proceedings against the family of a man charged in the firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado, to ensure the protection of the family's constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher granted a request from the wife and five children of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who are Egyptian, to block their deportation. U.S. immigration officials took the family into custody Tuesday. Soliman, 45, has been charged with a federal hate crime and state counts of attempted murder in Sunday's attack in downtown Boulder. Witnesses say he threw two Molotov cocktails at a group demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, and authorities say he confessed to the attack in custody. His family members have not been charged. Federal authorities have said Soliman has been living in the U.S. illegally, and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said earlier Wednesday that the family was being processed for removal. It's rare that a criminal suspect's family members are detained and threatened with deportation. "It is patently unlawful to punish individuals for the crimes of their relatives," attorneys for the family wrote in the lawsuit. Eric Lee, one of the attorney's representing the family, said efforts to deport them should not happen in a democracy. "The punishment of a four-year-old child for something their parent allegedly did, who also has a presumption of innocence, is something that should outrage Americans regardless of their citizenship status," he said. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin described the plaintiff's claims as "absurd" and "an attempt to delay justice." "Just like her criminal husband, she and her children are here illegally and are rightfully in ICE custody for removal as a result," she said in a statement. Witnesses describe attack at vigil Around 200 people squeezed into the local Jewish Community Center on Wednesday evening for a vigil that featured prayer, songs, a short speech by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and emotional testimony from a victim and witnesses to the attack. Rachelle Halpern, who has been walking with the group since 2023, said she remembers thinking it was strange to see a man with a canister looking like he was going to spray pesticide on the grass. Then she heard a crash and screams and saw flames around her feet. "A woman stood one foot behind me, engulfed in flames from head to toe, lying on the ground with her husband," she said. "People immediately, three or four men immediately rushed to her to smother the flames." Her description prompted murmurs from the audience members. One woman's head dropped into her hands. "I heard a loud noise, and the back of my legs burning, and don't remember those next few moments," said a victim, who didn't want to be identified and spoke off camera, over the event's speakers. "Even as I was watching it unfold before my eyes, even then, it didn't seem real." Defendant's family investigated Soliman's wife, Hayam El Gamal, a 17-year-old daughter, two minor sons and two minor daughters all are Egyptian citizens, according to El Gamal's lawsuit. They were being held at an immigration detention center in Texas, Lee said. "We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it," Noem said in a statement. Noem also said federal authorities would immediately crack down on people who overstay their visas, following the Boulder attack. Soliman told authorities that no one, including his family, knew about his planned attack, according to court documents. El Gamal said she was "shocked" to learn her husband had been arrested in the attack, according to her lawsuit. Victims increase to 15 people and a dog Earlier Wednesday, authorities raised the number of people injured in the attack to 15 from 12, plus a dog. Boulder County officials said in a news release that the victims include eight women and seven men ranging in age from 25 to 88. Details about how the victims were impacted would be explained in criminal charges set to be filed Thursday, according to Boulder County District Attorney's office spokesperson Shannon Carbone. Soliman had planned to kill all of the roughly 20 participants in Sunday's demonstration at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall, but he threw just two of his 18 Molotov cocktails while yelling "Free Palestine," police said. Soliman didn't carry out his full plan "because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before," police wrote in an affidavit. According to an FBI affidavit, Soliman told 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. Authorities said he expressed no remorse about the attack. The family's immigration status Before moving to Colorado Springs three years ago, Soliman spent 17 years in Kuwait, according to court documents. Soliman arrived in the U.S. in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, McLaughlin said in a post on X. She said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that has also expired. Hundreds of thousands of people overstay their visas each year in the United States, according to Department of Homeland Security reports. Soliman's wife was born in Saudi Arabia and is an Egyptian national, according to her lawsuit. She is a network engineer and has a pending EB-2 visa, which is available to professionals with advanced degrees, the suit said. She and her children all are listed as dependents on Soliman's asylum application. The case against Soliman Soliman told authorities that he had been planning the attack for a year, the affidavit said. Soliman is being held in a county jail on a $10 million cash bond and is scheduled to make an appearance in state court on Thursday. His attorney, Kathryn Herold, declined to comment after a state court hearing Monday. Public defenders' policy prohibits speaking to the media. The attack unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, which has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. It happened at 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.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge temporarily halts deportation of Boulder suspect's family
June 4 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the deportation of family members of the Egyptian national charged in the anti-Semitic attack in Boulder, Colo. In the U.S. District Court in Denver, Judge Gordon P. Gallagher directed the federal government to stop the deportation proceedings of Mohamed Soliman's 41-year-old wife, Hayem El Gamal, and their five children. On Tuesday, they were taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Florence, Colo., about 40 miles from their home in Colorado Springs. Federal immigration records show they are being held at a federal detention center in Dilley, Texas, designed to house families with minors, CBS News reported. The White House posted Tuesday on X: "THEY COULD BE DEPORTED AS EARLY AS TONIGHT." "Defendants SHALL NOT REMOVE" the five undocumented migrants from Colorado or the United States "unless or until this Court or the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacates this order," Gallagher wrote in his order. "Moreover, the Court finds that deportation without process could work irreparable harm and an order must (be) issue(d) without notice due to the urgency this situation presents." He set a hearing for June 13 for a request on a temporary restraining order. The Washington Post reported the family was held "incommunicado and without access to a lawyer" after they were placed in ICE custody on Tuesday, their lawyers said in court records. By applying for asylum, the Trump administration can't legally speed up their deportation, the legal representative said. "Punishing individuals - including children as young as four-years-old - for the purported actions of their relatives is a feature of medieval justice systems or police state dictatorships, not democracies," family attorney Eric Lee said Wednesday in a statement to CNN. "The detention and attempted removal of this family is an assault on core democratic principles and must provoke widespread opposition in the population, immigrant and non-immigrant alike." In the court filing obtained by The New York Times, the suspect's wife "was shocked to learn" that her husband "was arrested for having committed a violent act against a peaceful gathering of individuals commemorating Israeli hostages." After his arrest, Soliman told detectives "no one" knew about his attack plans," including his wife or children, according to the affidavit for his arrest filed Sunday. "We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it. I am continuing to pray for the victims of this attack and their families. Justice will be served," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X on Tuesday. The children are an 18-year-old daughter, two girls and two boys. They are Egyptian citizens, according to the Department of Homeland Security. El Gamal, 41, is a network engineer with a pending EB-2 visa for professionals with advanced degrees. The eldest daughter, identified as Habiba Soliman, recently graduated from high school in Colorado Springs. An article in the Colorado Springs Gazette on April 25 said she had won a scholarship and planned to study medicine. In August 2022, they were initially granted entry until February 2023, DHS said in a Wednesday statement. Soliman applied for asylum in September 2022 in Denver, the agency said. In 2023, Soliman received a two-year work authorization that expired in March, a DHS official told CNN. Authorities say Soliman yelled "Free Palestine" and used a flamethrower to ignite molotov cocktails and threw them into the crowd where a pro-Israeli group, Run for Their Lives, was seeking the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
UPI
05-06-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Judge temporarily halts deportation of Boulder suspect's family
The family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement but a judge Wednesday ordered a temporary halt on deporation. Photo via Boulder Police Department/UPI | License Photo June 4 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the deportation of family members of the Egyptian national charged in the anti-Semitic attack in Boulder, Colo. In the U.S. District Court in Denver, Judge Gordon P. Gallagher directed the federal government to stop the deportation proceedings of Mohamed Soliman's 41-year-old wife, Hayem El Gamal, and their five children. On Tuesday, they were taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Florence, Colo., about 40 miles from their home in Colorado Springs. Federal immigration records show they are being held at a federal detention center in Dilley, Texas, designed to house families with minors, CBS News reported. The White House posted Tuesday on X: "THEY COULD BE DEPORTED AS EARLY AS TONIGHT." Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed's Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon. ✈️ The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 3, 2025 "Defendants SHALL NOT REMOVE" the five undocumented migrants from Colorado or the United States "unless or until this Court or the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacates this order," Gallagher wrote in his order. "Moreover, the Court finds that deportation without process could work irreparable harm and an order must (be) issue(d) without notice due to the urgency this situation presents." He set a hearing for June 13 for a request on a temporary restraining order. The Washington Post reported the family was held "incommunicado and without access to a lawyer" after they were placed in ICE custody on Tuesday, their lawyers said in court records. By applying for asylum, the Trump administration can't legally speed up their deportation, the legal representative said. "Punishing individuals - including children as young as four-years-old - for the purported actions of their relatives is a feature of medieval justice systems or police state dictatorships, not democracies," family attorney Eric Lee said Wednesday in a statement to CNN. "The detention and attempted removal of this family is an assault on core democratic principles and must provoke widespread opposition in the population, immigrant and non-immigrant alike." In the court filing obtained by The New York Times, the suspect's wife "was shocked to learn" that her husband "was arrested for having committed a violent act against a peaceful gathering of individuals commemorating Israeli hostages." After his arrest, Soliman told detectives "no one" knew about his attack plans," including his wife or children, according to the affidavit for his arrest filed Sunday. "We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it. I am continuing to pray for the victims of this attack and their families. Justice will be served," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X on Tuesday. The children are an 18-year-old daughter, two girls and two boys. They are Egyptian citizens, according to the Department of Homeland Security. El Gamal, 41, is a network engineer with a pending EB-2 visa for professionals with advanced degrees. The eldest daughter, identified as Habiba Soliman, recently graduated from high school in Colorado Springs. An article in the Colorado Springs Gazette on April 25 said she had won a scholarship and planned to study medicine. In August 2022, they were initially granted entry until February 2023, DHS said in a Wednesday statement. Soliman applied for asylum in September 2022 in Denver, the agency said. In 2023, Soliman received a two-year work authorization that expired in March, a DHS official told CNN. Authorities say Soliman yelled "Free Palestine" and used a flamethrower to ignite molotov cocktails and threw them into the crowd where a pro-Israeli group, Run for Their Lives, was seeking the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge blocks deportation of family of man charged in Boulder attack
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – U.S. District Court Judge Gordon P. Gallagher blocked the Trump administration from deporting the family of Mohamed Soliman, who is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a group of demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said ICE took Soliman's family into custody and officials were processing the family members for expedited removal. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas.), the former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said he expected the family to be deported this week. Judge Gallagher said the administration can't deport the family unless he or a court of appeals rules they can. The Department of Homeland Security said Soliman overstayed his visa. They said he entered the United States in August of 2022 on a tourist visa. He filed for asylum in September and was granted a work permit in March of 2023. 'The authorities are going to need to run that to the ground,' said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). 'I've long believed that this country would be a lot better off if we updated our immigration laws.' The Congressional Research Service said in 2023, 42% of the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally had overstayed their visas. 'He shouldn't have been here. He overstayed. And he certainly shouldn't have been allowed to stay,' McCaul said. The Department of Homeland Security said, in the wake of the attack, it is cracking down on people with expired visas. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Yahoo
US judge issues order stopping deportation of family of man charged in Boulder firebombing
A federal judge issued an order Wednesday to prevent the deportation of the wife and five children of an Egyptian man charged in the firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado. U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher granted a request from the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman to halt deportation proceedings of his wife and five children who were taken into federal custody Tuesday by U.S. immigration officials. The family members have not been charged in the attack. Soliman faces federal hate crime charges and state charges of attempted murder in the Sunday attack in downtown Boulder. This is a developing story and will be updated.
