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Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
How a father of 5 morphed into a terror suspect with Boulder's Jews in his crosshairs
BOULDER, CO ‒ An Egyptian immigrant armed with Molotov cocktails camouflaged his murderous intent with flowers and clothes that made him look like a landscaper. An elderly Jewish woman pushed her dog in a stroller, peacefully asking for Israeli hostages to be released 7,000 miles away. Long-running concerns about rising antisemitism in the United States erupted into a shocking act of violence June 1 that injured 12 in this famously liberal city, drawing immediate and fierce condemnation from President Donald Trump and others. Now, court records and interviews paint a chilling picture of the suspect's yearlong plot to firebomb a pro-Israel protest walk on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces federal hate crime and attempted murder charges, as well as state charges of attempted murder, use of incendiary devices and other offenses. Soliman, a father of five who was an Uber driver, remains jailed. "Soliman stated he would do it again. He specifically targeted the 'Zionist Group' that had gathered in Boulder having learned about the group from an online search," FBI said in court documents. The afternoon attack on the protest walk stunned Boulder, prompting many businesses along its red-brick pedestrian Pearl Street Mall to stay closed June 2. Jewish community organizations struggled to carry on with day camps and the Shavuot holiday, a harvest festival that also commemorates God's gift of the law to the Jewish people. Under heavy security, passing tourists snapped photos of the scene, where workers scrubbed clean the scorch marks from the pavement in front of the historic Boulder County Courthouse. "Yesterday's horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America," Trump said in a social media post. "Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law." As court proceedings against Soliman advanced, investigators have released new details about his suspected motivations. According to federal officials, Soliman entered the United States in late 2022 on a tourist visa, and later requested asylum. He, his wife and their children lived in Colorado Springs, a more conservative city about 100 miles south of Boulder, and Soliman worked as an Uber driver, the company confirmed. Soliman is a native Egyptian who lived in Kuwait with his family for more than 10 years. He told investigators he deliberately waited a year to attack the "Run for their Lives" protest, until after his daughter graduated high school. A profile of her published in the Colorado Springs Gazette said that the family arrived in the United States not speaking English, but that Habiba Soliman learned English and founded an Arabic club at her high school. According to school records, she graduated May 29. Her father drove to Boulder to attack the demonstrators three days later, investigators said. "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," FBI agent Jessica Krueger said in an affidavit. Investigators said Soliman told them that as part of his planning he took a class in concealed weapons to learn how to fire a gun but discovered his immigration status prevented him from buying one. Without a gun, Soliman told investigators, he turned to gasoline and glass bottles, along with a backpack sprayer often used by landscapers to dispense pesticide or fertilizer. "Mohamed expressed his hatred for the 'Zionist Organization' as they support and fund the bombings that are taking place in Palestine," Boulder Police Det. John Sailer wrote in an arrest warrant. "Mohamed drove from Castle Rock where he purchased most of the materials needed to carry out his attack." Soliman told investigators he stopped several times on his drive from Colorado Springs, to buy the bottles for the Molotov cocktails, the 87-octane gas to fill them and to Home Depot to buy flowers as camouflage, dressing like a gardener "in order to get as close as possible to the group." The disguise didn't work on Lisa Turnquist, 66. A longtime attendee at the protest walks, Turnquist has gotten a sense of how they usually go and who is around on Sunday afternoons in Boulder. The man dressed as landscaper, she said, immediately stood out as she walked past the courthouse with her dog, Jake, in a stroller. About 20 people were walking June 1, and while she saw familiar faces, Turnquist said she didn't know many by name. Although they share the desire to see the Israeli hostages freed, she said, people don't necessarily exchange names. Over the months of protest walks ‒ they began shortly after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023 ‒ Turnquist has heard the threats and epithets. Attendees ignore the people calling them supporters of genocide, she said, and just keep up their silent presence. Turnquist is Jewish, and her partner's family lives in Israel. "We don't confront anybody when we're walking. We do it quietly," Turnquist told USA TODAY, tearful and angry. "We ignore the people who are against us. Week after week after week, people are yelling at us all the time. They say we're causing genocide. We are not causing genocide." Extremism and antisemitism experts have been warning for several years that attacks directed at Jews are on the rise. Across Boulder, Jewish facilities were being protected by police and armed guards after the attack. The Mountain States Anti-Defamation League expressed its concern in a statement. "We must use this moment as a wake-up call: the rising tide of antisemitism in America demands urgent action from all of us, and we must stand in solidarity together," the group said. Although she was aware of such concerns, Turnquist said, she never thought anyone would physically attack the marches in Boulder. As Turnquist drew near the courthouse to begin that day's walk, Soliman was leaving behind his parked Toyota Prius, investigators said. Inside was a Quran and strips of cloth from which he had torn wicks for his Molotov cocktails. Soliman arrived in Boulder nearly an hour before the march, then made his way to the courthouse carrying flowers and the box of gas-filled glass jars, the sprayer on his back. Turnquist thought Soliman looked out of place on a Sunday afternoon. The courthouse grounds are usually maintained by county workers, and they don't work Sundays. "Something said 'Keep on walking by him,'" she said. She kept walking. Others weren't so lucky. Turnquist said she grabbed a towel from her dog stroller to help smother the flames on one elderly woman's legs. "It took eight of us to get the fire out on her." Turnquist said she saw Soliman just standing around as bystanders smothered the flames, and he didn't resist when police confronted him. Turnquist said she gave a statement to investigators after the attack. "I think he either wanted to be killed as a martyr or he wanted to be caught," she said after attaching a bouquet of flowers and an Israeli flag to a small memorial outside the courthouse a day after the attack. "What was he planning on doing? Was he planning on getting away and hitting other people?" Soliman was injured in the attack, and he later told investigators he had planned to die. The FBI said investigators found 14 unused Molotov cocktails in a plastic bin near where police detained Soliman, along with the weed sprayer loaded with gas. Investigators said Soliman disclosed he had left at home an iPhone containing messages to his family, along with a journal. Investigators did not immediately release any details of those messages or the contents of the journal. "He said he did not spray the gas on anyone but himself because he had planned on dying. Mohamed mentioned several times he wanted to be dead," Boulder police wrote in an arrest affidavit. "Mohamed said he only threw two (Molotov cocktails) at the group because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before. He said he had to do it, he should do it, and he would not forgive himself if he did not do it." Two of the dozen people injured remained hospitalized the day after the attack. Turnquist said she's struggling to understand why someone would so violently attack peaceful protesters. She had considered attending Soliman's court hearing June 2 but worried she might not be able to restrain herself from a courtroom outburst. She said she can't understand how someone would think that a request for hostages to be returned would be seen as grounds for a terror attack. "We just want them home, and that's why we do this," she said. "I woke up this morning and didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to get out of bed and didn't want to talk to my friends who were calling me. But this is when we have to get up and stand up, and we have to push back." Soliman remains jailed on a $10 million cash bond. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boulder terror suspect plotted antisemitic attack for a year, FBI says
Fox News
2 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Timeline exposes Boulder suspect's movements before allegedly carrying out firebomb attack on pro-Israel group
Officials allege Mohamed Sabry Soliman targeted a peaceful pro-Israel protest on Sunday in what is being described as a terror attack that left 12 people injured. Soliman's journey to the United States began in August 2022 when he arrived in the country on a B1/B2 visa and was supposed to leave in February 2023, but the Biden administration gave him work authorization through March 2025, two months before he was accused of injuring 12 people at a pro-Israel peaceful protest in Boulder, Colorado. Soliman allegedly told federal and local law enforcement officials that he targeted a "Zionist group" that gathered in Boulder because he wanted to stop them from taking over "our land," which he said is "Palestine." Soliman allegedly told law enforcement that he had been planning the attack for a year, waiting until after his daughter graduated to carry it out. Here's a timeline of Soliman's journey to the United States: Soliman flew into Los Angeles International Airport on a B1/B2 non-immigrant visa on Aug. 27, 2022, sources told Fox News. Sources told Fox News that Soliman made some kind of claim through United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which was possibly for asylum. Sources told Fox News that Soliman's B1/B2 visa was set to expire on Feb. 26, 2023, but he didn't leave the country. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services gave Soliman work authorization on March 29, 2023, which was valid for around two years, sources said. Soliman began driving for Uber in the spring of 2023, a spokesperson for the company told Fox News Digital. Uber said Soliman met all requirements to drive for the company, which include passing a criminal and driving history background check, holding a valid Social Security number and providing a photo ID. One of Soliman's neighbors told Fox News Digital that Soliman was "not home that often" because he was "working really hard." A Veros health spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Soliman began working at the company in its accounting department. "He was hired in our accounting department. He went through a hiring process with ADP, our employer [Professional Employer Organization]. At the time of hire, he was confirmed to have a valid work visa, which was noted to expire in March 2025," the spokesperson said. Soliman's employment with Veros Health ended in August 2023, according to a company spokesperson. "We can confirm that Mohamed Soliman worked with Veros from May 2023 to August 2023," the spokesperson said. Soliman's work authorization ended in March 2025 after it was granted under the Biden administration in March 2023, sources said. Soliman was accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at the pro-Israel group "Run for Their Lives" as they were protesting for the release of Hamas' hostages. Twelve people were injured. Soliman was charged with first-degree murder, crimes against at-risk adults/elderly; first-degree assault, criminal attempt to commit class one and class two felonies, and use of explosives or incendiary devices during a felony. Former FBI special agent Jonathan Gilliam told Fox News Digital he's concerned the Biden administration didn't do a good enough job at vetting Soliman when he first came to the United States. "When we look at the border and how open the border was for over four years, literally wide open," Gilliam said. "The problem with individuals like this guy…is that they are presenting themselves as activists. They're presenting themselves as altruistic and acting out for a cause for the greater good." Gilliam said it's likely Soliman has harbored "hatred" for a period of time, but chose to act out on it now. "He came from an area where the hate is taught his entire life, of America, of Israel," Gilliam said. "He planned the event for a year, but he already had the hatred inside of him. So you're just seeing them act out on something that is already inside of them."
The Guardian
3 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Boulder attack suspect says he planned to use gun but was unable to buy one
The man accused of attacking a a pro-Israel peace parade with molotov cocktails in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday told authorities he planned to use a gun and took a concealed firearm class – but was denied the purchase because he was not a US citizen. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national, is facing federal and state charges over the attack which wounded 12 people as they held a weekly demonstration calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. He had planned to target the demonstration with 18 molotov cocktails in his possession but apparently had second thoughts and threw just two, according to authorities. In what the FBI has called a 'targeted terror attack', Soliman yelled: 'Free Palestine,' police wrote in an affidavit. Police said Soliman abandoned his full plan 'because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before'. Soliman, 45, is facing 16 state counts of attempted murder, 18 others related to the use of an incendiary device, and a federal hate crime charge. The FBI said he also used a makeshift flamethrower against the demonstrators. In court papers charging him with a federal hate crime, authorities said he expressed no regrets about the attack and specifically targeted what he described as a 'Zionist group'. Soliman had planned the attack for more than a year, authorities allege. '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,' J Bishop Grewell, the acting US attorney for the district of Colorado, said during a news conference on Monday. An FBI affidavit said 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. Authorities' affidavit said the molotov cocktails were made up of glass wine carafe bottles or jars with clear liquid and red rags hanging out of them and he also carried gasoline in a commercial-grade, backpack weed sprayer. Soliman allegedly told investigators he planned to use the weed sprayer to burn himself to death and 'would never forgive himself if he did not do it', as the Wall Street Journal reported. 'He stated that he … was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack,' said the affidavit, which added that investigators believe Soliman acted alone. As of Tuesday, Soliman was being held on a $10m, cash-only bond, prosecutors said. His next court hearing is tentatively set for Thursday. Soliman had been living in the US on an expired B-2 visitor visa for more than two years after entering the country in August 2022, according to the Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a post on X. He moved to Colorado Springs three years ago, where he lived with his wife and five children, according to state court documents. He previously spent 17 years living in Kuwait. Soliman worked as an Uber driver and had passed the company's eligibility requirements, which include a criminal background check, according to a spokesperson for the ride-share service. An online résumé also says he was employed by a Denver-area healthcare company working in accounting and stock inventory control. Authorities said that the victims wounded in the attack ranged in age from 52 to 88, and their injuries spanned from serious to minor. Six of the injured were taken to hospitals, and four have since been released, according to the organization of the targeted demonstration, the Denver-based, pro-Israel group Run for Their Lives. Witness Alex Osante of San Diego, who filmed the aftermath of the attack, said Soliman evidently set himself on fire as he threw the second molotov cocktail and had removed his shirt to reveal what appeared to be a bulletproof vest. Soliman was arrested without any apparent resistance, according to the video Osante filmed. Authorities said Soliman was injured and taken to a hospital but did not elaborate on his injuries. A booking photo showed him with a bandage over one ear. The attack at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder comes amid rising tensions over the Israel-Hamas war that has contributed to an increase in antisemitic violence in the US. It comes nearly two weeks after a man was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington. As police arrested him, the suspect in that attack, identified as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, yelled: 'I did this for Gaza. Free Palestine. There's only one solution, intifada revolution.' In April, a man set fire to the residence of Pennsylvania's governor, Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish. The suspect later said the fire was a response to Israeli attacks on Palestinians. Rabbi Yisroel and Leah Wilhelm, directors of the Rohr Chabad House at Boulder's University of Colorado, said in a statement that they had received 'an immense wave of positive messages' after the attack. They said that was 'another signal of the health and strong spirits of our community'.
USA Today
3 days ago
- General
- USA Today
Boulder terror suspect told cops he planned his antisemitic attack for a year
Boulder terror suspect told cops he planned his antisemitic attack for a year Unrepentant suspect 'stated he would do it again,' FBI said. The father of five specifically targeted the pro-Israel group. Show Caption Hide Caption Jewish Boulder resident recounts attack at pro-Israel protest Lisa Turnquist, a Jewish Boulder resident, used her a towel she had to smother flames on an elderly woman after an attack at a pro-Israel protest. BOULDER ‒ A Muslim immigrant armed with Molotov cocktails camouflaged his murderous intent with flowers and clothes that made him look like a landscaper. An elderly Jewish woman pushed her dog in a stroller, peacefully asking for Israeli hostages to be released 7,000 miles away. Long-running concerns about rising antisemitism in the United States erupted into a shocking act of violence June 1 that injured 12 in this famously liberal city, drawing immediate and fierce condemnation from President Donald Trump and others. Now, court records and interviews paint a chilling picture of the suspect's yearlong plot to firebomb a pro-Israel protest walk on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces federal hate crime and attempted murder charges, as well as state charges of attempted murder, use of incendiary devices, and other offenses. Soliman, a father of five who worked as an Uber driver, remains jailed. "Soliman stated he would do it again. He specifically targeted the 'Zionist Group' that had gathered in Boulder having learned about the group from an online search," FBI said in court documents. The afternoon attack on the protest walk stunned Boulder, prompting many businesses along its red-brick pedestrian Pearl Street Mall to remain closed June 2. Jewish community organizations struggled to carry on with day camps and the Shavuot holiday, a harvest festival that also commemorates God's gift of the law to the Jewish people. Under heavy security, passing tourists snapped photos of the scene, where workers scrubbed clean the scorch marks from the pavement out front of the historic Boulder County Courthouse. "Yesterday's horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America," Trump said in a social media post. "Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law." Soliman planned his attack for a year As court proceedings against Soliman advanced, investigators have released new details about his alleged motivations. According to federal officials, Soliman entered the United States in late 2022 on a tourist visa, later requesting asylum. He, his wife and their children lived in Colorado Springs, a more conservative city about 100 miles south of Boulder, and Soliman worked as an Uber driver, the company confirmed. Soliman is a native Egyptian who lived in Kuwait with his family for more than 10 years. He told investigators he deliberately waited a year to attack the "Run for their Lives" protest, until after his daughter graduated high school. A profile of her published in the Colorado Springs Gazette said the family arrived in the United States not speaking English, but that Habiba Soliman learned English, and founded an Arabic club at her high school. According to school records, she graduated May 29. Her dad drove to Boulder to attack the protest three days later, according to investigators. "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," FBI agent Jessica Krueger said in an affidavit. Investigators said Soliman told them that as part of his planning he took a concealed-weapons class to learn how to fire a gun, but discovered that his immigration status prevented him from buying one. Without a gun, Soliman told investigators, he turned to gasoline and glass bottles, along with a backpack sprayer often used by landscapers to dispense pesticide or fertilizer. "Mohamed expressed his hatred for the 'Zionist Organization' as they support and fund the bombings that are taking place in Palestine," Boulder Police Det. John Sailer wrote in an arrest warrant. "Mohamed drove from Castle Rock where he purchased most of the materials needed to carry out his attack." Soliman told investigators he stopped several times on his drive from Colorado Springs, to buy the bottles for the Molotov cocktails, the 87-octane gas to fill them and to Home Depot to buy flowers as camouflage, dressing like a gardener "in order to get as close as possible to the group." Protesters were used to harsh accusations The disguise didn't work on Lisa Turnquist, 66. A longtime attendee at the protest walks, Turnquist has gotten a sense of how they usually go, and who is around on Sunday afternoons in Boulder. The man dressed as landscaper, she said, immediately stood out as she walked past the courthouse with her dog Jake in a stroller. About 20 people were walking June 1, and while she saw familiar faces, Turnquist said she didn't know many by name. Although they share the desire to see the Israeli hostages freed, she said, people don't necessarily exchange names. Over the months of protest walks ‒ they began shortly after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023 ‒ Turnquist has heard the threats and epithets. Attendees ignore the people calling them supporters of genocide, she said, and just keep up their silent presence. Turnquist is Jewish, and her partner's family lives in Israel. "We don't confront anybody when we're walking, we do it quietly," Turnquist told USA TODAY, her voice alternately tearful and angry. "We ignore the people who are against us. Week after week after week, people are yelling at us all the time, they say we're causing genocide. We are not causing genocide." Extremism and antisemitism experts have been warning for several years that attacks directed at Jews are on the rise. Across Boulder, Jewish facilities were being protected by police and armed guards following the attack. The Mountain States Anti-Defamation League in a statement noted the ongoing concern. "We must use this moment as a wake-up call: the rising tide of antisemitism in America demands urgent action from all of us, and we must stand in solidarity together," the group said. Although she was aware of such concerns, Turnquist said she never thought anyone would physically attack the protest marches in Boulder. A violent encounter As Turnquist drew near to the courthouse to begin that day's walk, Soliman was leaving behind his parked Toyota Prius, investigators said. Inside was a Quran and strips of cloth from which he had torn wicks for his Molotov cocktails. Soliman arrived in Boulder nearly an hour before the march, then made his way to the courthouse carrying flowers and the box of gas-filled glass jars, the sprayer on his back. Turnquist thought Soliman looked out of place on a Sunday afternoon. The courthouse grounds are usually maintained by county workers, and they don't work Sundays. "Something said keep on walking by him," she said. She kept walking. Others weren't so lucky. Turnquist said she grabbed a towel from her dog Jake's stroller to help smother the flames on one elderly woman's legs. "It took eight of us to get the fire out on her." Turnquist said she saw Soliman just standing around as bystanders smothered the flames, and he didn't resist when police confronted him. Turnquist said she gave a statement to investigators after the incident. "I think he either wanted to be killed as a martyr or he wanted to be caught," she said after attaching a bouquet of flowers and an Israeli flag to a small memorial outside the courthouse, a day after the incident. "What was he planning on doing? Was he planning on getting away and hitting other people?" 'We have to push back' Soliman was injured in the incendiary attack, and later told investigators that he had planned to die. The FBI said investigators found 14 unused Molotov cocktails in a plastic bin near where police detained Soliman, along with the weed sprayer loaded with gas. Investigators said Soliman disclosed he had left at home an iPhone containing messages to his family, along with a journal. Investigators did not immediately release any details of those messages or the contents of the journal. "He said he did not spray the gas on anyone but himself because he had planned on dying. Mohamed mentioned several times he wanted to be dead," Boulder police wrote in an arrest affidavit. "Mohamed said he only threw two (Molotov cocktails) at the group because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before. He said he had to do it, he should do it, and he would not forgive himself if he did not do it." Two of the dozen people injured remained hospitalized the day after his attack. Turnquist said she's struggling to understand why someone would so violently attack peaceful protesters. She had considered attending Soliman's June 2 court hearing, but worried she might not be able to restrain herself from a courtroom outburst. She said she can't understand how someone would think that a request for hostages to be returned would be seen as grounds for a terror attack. "We just want them home, and that's why we do this," she said. "I woke up this morning and didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to get out of bed and didn't want to talk to my friends who were calling me. But this is when we have to get up and stand up and we have to push back." Soliman remains jailed on a $10 million cash bond.
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Suspect planned to kill all in group he called 'Zionist,' but appeared to have second thoughts
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. ___ Tucker reported from Washington.
