Man accused of firebombing demonstrators charged with attempted murder

by | Jun 5, 2025 | Local | 0 comments

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By COLLEEN SLEVIN and JESSE BEDAYN, Associated Press

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A man accused of yelling “Free Palestine” and throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza was charged Thursday with attempted murder and explosives crimes in a Colorado court.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was advised of the charges during a court hearing where he appeared from jail in Boulder. He has been held there since his arrest following Sunday’s attack. Investigators say Soliman, who posed as a gardener, had planned it for a year.

Authorities have said 15 people and a dog were victims of the attack.

Lesli Colin Johnsen, right, hugs Beth Blacker before a community vigil at the Boulder Jewish Community Center, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP, Pool)
Lesli Colin Johnsen, right, hugs Beth Blacker before a community vigil at the Boulder Jewish Community Center, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP, Pool)

He has also been charged with a hate crime in federal court and is jailed on a $10 million cash bond.

Soliman had planned to kill all of the roughly 20 participants the weekly 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.

Boulder County officials said in a news release that the victims include eight women and seven men ranging in age from 25 to 88, and a dog. Details about how the victims were impacted would be explained in criminal charges set to be filed Thursday, said Boulder County District Attorney’s office spokesperson Shannon Carbone.

Defendant’s family investigated

U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher on Wednesday granted a request to block the deportation of Soliman’s wife and five children, who like Soliman are Egyptian. U.S. immigration officials took them into custody Tuesday, but they have not been charged in the attack.



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