01-07-2025
Boulder terror suspect's Muslim wife says she's 'struggling to preserve her modesty' at ICE detention facility
The wife of an Egyptian migrant accused of murdering an elderly Jewish woman with a flamethrower at a Colorado protest has said she is struggling with 'preserving her modesty' in ICE custody.
Hayal El Gamal and her five children are being held inside the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, 73 miles southwest of San Antonio.
El Gamal and her kids, aged 18, 15, 7 and two four-year-olds, were detained after her husband Mohamad Soliman was arrested for allegedly firebombing a Colorado demonstration honoring the October 7 victims on June 1.
Karen Diamond, 82, died Monday, with Soliman now charged with her murder.
A dozen people between the ages of 52 and 88 were injured in the attack, which federal prosecutors believe Soliman planned out over the course of a year - driven by his anger toward Israel and his animosity toward 'Zionists.'
The family have not been accused of helping Soliman carrying out the alleged offense. He told authorities he planned and executed the attack on his own accord, according to court documents seen by KSAT.
In a lawsuit, also seen by the outlet, seeking their release and due process, El Gamal said her children's experience at the facility was 'traumatic'.
The suit adds that she has had trouble sleeping and issues with preserving her modesty in observance of her Islamic faith. No further details on the modesty issues were shared and no pictures of El Gamal are available.
The family had entered the US on B1 visitor visas in 2022 and are seeking asylum, their attorney Eric Lee said.
At the time of their detention they had pending asylum applications with a formal decision still pending, he added.
The lawsuit says they are being detained as a 'punishment' for Soliman's actions, alleging their Fifth Amendment rights have been violated.
The suit asks that ICE are prohibited from deporting them while their asylum case is still pending and that they be released from custody.
It is also calling for the courts to prevent them from being transferred out of the Western District of Texas, and to declare their detention illegal.
She said in the suit that she stayed at a hotel in Colorado Springs for two nights while the authorities raided her home.
They were then told by Homeland Security agents that they needed to be moved as their current situation was 'unsafe', she added.
El Gamal went with the agents after believing they were trying to help her and her family, she added.
They were then taken to an immigration facility in Colorado, before being flown to San Antonio on June 3 and taken to the center in Dilley.
As they arrived at the facility, The White House X page had posted on X that the family would be scheduled for 'expedited removal'.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Soliman's tourist visa had expired in 2023.
He had filed for asylum and was given a grant for work authorization in March of 2023. It had expired prior to his alleged attack.
Soliman is facing an extra two murder charges after Diamond's death was announced on Monday.
He has also been charged with an additional 66 counts in relation to 14 new victims identified through the ongoing investigation.
According to his arrest affidavit, Soliman had been planning the attack for a year - waiting for his teenage daughter to graduate from high school before executing it.
She graduated just days before he launched the attack with homemade flamethrowers on a Run For Their Lives event on Boulder's Pearl Street pedestrian mall.
In a statement earlier this month, El Gamal Gamal insisted she and her children had no idea what her husband was reportedly planning as she begged Americans to push for her and her family's release.
'My children and I are in total shock over what they say my husband did in Boulder, Colorado earlier this month,' she said in the statement released by her Michigan-based immigration attorney, Eric Lee.
'So many lives were ruined that day. There is never an excuse for hurting innocent people,' El Gamal said from the Dilley Family Detention Center in Texas.
'We have been cooperating with the authorities, who are trying their best to get to the bottom of this. We send our love to the many families who are suffering as a result of the attack.'
Her eldest daughter, Habiba Soliman, has since turned 18 at the ICE detention center, while her seven year old and 15 year old also have upcoming birthdays.
