Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was charged in state and federal court, including 18 U.S. counts of a federal hate crime near the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colo., on June 1. Photo by Boulder Police Department | License Photo
June 25 (UPI) — The 45-year-old man accused of using a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to burn people demonstrating in support of Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colo., has been charged with 12 counts of hate crime, according to the Justice Department on Wednesday.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, earlier was charged with a single hate crime count for the June 1 attack on Run for Their Lives during a pro-Israel demonstration at Port Street Mall, DOJ said. He also faces 118 charges in state court, including attempted murder.
If convicted in federal court, Soliman could face the maximum sentence of life in prison.
In the indictment, which was unsealed one day later on Wednesday and obtained by Axios, he has been charged with nine federal counts of violence against individuals because of actual or perceived race, color, religion or national origin, and three counts involving fire or explosives to commit a felony.
The Colorado Springs resident was booked into the Boulder County jail after the attack near the county courthouse. On June 2, state bond was set at $10 million and the same day he was charged with a federal crime.
According to the federal indictment, Soliman told FBI investigators that he viewed “anyone supporting the exist [sic] of Israel on our land” to be “Zionist.” The defendant said that he decided to take “revenge from these people.”
Soliman said that he learned of Run for Their Lives through internet searches for “Zionist” events and that he identified the “Zionist” group when he saw the flags and signs they carried at the courthouse.
At least 15 people were injured. Two were airlifted to a hospital in Aurora near Denver, an FBI official said. Boulder is 30 miles north of Denver.
Soliman, an Egyptian national, entered California in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023 and his asylum claim was pending, said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“The Colorado Terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country,” she said in a post on X. “He filed for asylum in September 2022.”
He reportedly lived in Kuwait for 17 years before moving to Colorado.
Soliman entered the park carrying a backpack weed sprayer that contained a flammable liquid and a black plastic container that held at least 18 glass bottles and jars. They all contained a flammable liquid and several had red rags stuffed through the top to act as wicks, commonly referred to as Molotov cocktails.
At approximately 1:30 p.m., Soliman approached the Run for Their Lives group and threw two Molotov cocktails that he had ignited, according to the indictment. When throwing one of the Molotov cocktails, he shouted, “Free Palestine!”
Later, a handwritten document was recovered from the vehicle driven by Soliman. The document included the following statements: “Zionism is our enemies until [sic] Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from our land,” and also described Israel as a “cancer entity.”
His family, including his wife and five children, were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for expedited deportation from Dilley, Texas, the Department of Homeland Security said.
On June 4, a federal judge temporarily blocked the deportations.
The family’s case was subsequently transferred to the Western District of Texas, where a federal judge on June 18 extended the temporary restraining order.