BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators in Boulder who were calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, injuring 12 of them, had planned to kill them all but apparently had second thoughts, authorities said.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who was disguised as a gardener, had 18 Molotov cocktails but threw just two during Sunday's attack in which he yelled “Free Palestine," police said. Soliman, 45, 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 at the group of about 20 people staging their weekly demonstration were enough to injure more than half of them, and authorities said he expressed no regrets about the attack.
Soliman — an Egyptian national whose first name is spelled Mohammed in some court documents and who is in the U.S. illegally, according to federal officials — 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,” Colorado’s acting U.S. attorney, J. Bishop Grewell, 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 bond. His attorney, Kathryn Herold, declined to comment Monday after a hearing where he appeared before a state judge. His next hearing is Thursday.
According to an FBI affidavit, 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.
The attack 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 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.
Six victims hospitalized
The victims ranged in age from 52 to 88, and their injuries spanned from serious to minor, officials said.
Six victims were initially taken to a hospital, and three remained hospitalized Tuesday at the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, hospital spokesperson Kelli Christensen said. She declined to provide information on their conditions and said they had requested privacy.
Members of the volunteer group called Run For Their Lives were attacked while holding their weekly demonstration. Video 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 assailant 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 that he took a concealed-carry class and tried to buy a gun but was denied because he isn't a U.S. citizen.
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 has been living in the U.S. illegally, having entered the country in August 2022 on a B-2 visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia 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 it also expired. DHS did not respond to requests for additional information.
Soliman, who was born in Egypt, moved three years ago to Colorado Springs, where he lived with his wife and five children, according to court documents. He previously spent 17 years living in Kuwait.
Pearl Street Attack | Continuing coverage:
- Prayers, patterns, and promises along Pearl Street Mall one day after Boulder attack
- Boulder County Commissioner addresses safety concerns after Pearl Street Mall attack
- A Holocaust survivor is among the victims of Sunday's antisemitic attack in Boulder
- What we know about Mohamed Soliman, Boulder firebombing suspect now charged with a federal hate crime
- ‘A normalization of hate’: Anti-Defamation League reacts to targeted Boulder firebombing
- Boulder attack that injured 8 pro-Israel demonstrators being investigated as act of terrorism
- ‘Most horrific thing’ I’ve ever seen: Witness describes attack on pro-Israel demonstrators in Boulder
- Colorado Jewish community reacts to Boulder attacks: 'We are not going to allow terror to define us'
- Suspect accused of burning, injuring 12 in Boulder had planned attack for 1 year, affidavit reads
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