The man accused of launching an “antisemitic attack” that injured at least 12 protesters with a “makeshift flamethrower” and Molotov cocktails in downtown Boulder on Sunday had “no regrets” and wanted his targets to die, Colorado officials said.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, posed as a gardener to get closer to a group of Jewish protesters, police and prosecutors said at a Monday news conference as the city’s Jewish community reels from the attack.
The city of Boulder said in a statement Monday night that this was a “targeted, antisemitic attack.”
Authorities said eight of the victims, ranging in age from 52 to 88 years old, were admitted to the hospital with burns. One is a Holocaust survivor, according to a local rabbi, and is now fighting to recover from severe burns. None have been identified publicly.
At least four of those injured were hospitalized but later discharged. At the same time, two were airlifted to UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Rabbi Marc Soloway told NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver.
Soliman, an Egyptian national, has been arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder after deliberation; attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference; first-degree assault, including against an at-risk victim older than 70, and possession of an incendiary device. He remains in custody on a $10 million bond.
The suspect has also been federally charged with a hate crime for targeting a religious or ethnic group. If convicted on all the charges, he faces up to 192 years in prison.
Authorities say the victims were participating in a peaceful rally calling for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during its terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The Boulder branch of the Run For Their Life, like similar offshoots across the country, has been demonstrating to raise awareness of the hostages’ plight every week.
Soliman shouted “Free Palestine” during the attack, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal district court.
“Mr. Soliman stated that he had been planning this attack for a year. And he acted because he hated what he called ‘the Zionist group,'” Acting U.S. Attorney for the district of Colorado J. Bishop Grewell said in a Monday news conference.
When interviewed about the attack, Grewell said Soliman told police he “wanted them all to die.”
“He had no regrets, and he would go back and do it again,” Grewell said.
An affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court said Soliman found out about the Run For Their Lives group online and knew they planned to meet at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
According to the criminal complaint and Michael Dougherty, district attorney for Boulder County, the attack could have been even worse: while the suspect threw two Molotov cocktails into a crowd, police recovered 16 more from the scene. Soliman also had attempted to buy a firearm before the attack but was denied due to his immigration status, police said.
The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that Soliman legally entered the country on a B2 visa, normally issued to tourists, in August 2022 and filed for asylum in September 2022. While his visa expired in February 2023, Soliman had not yet exhausted all legal options to stay in the U.S.
Video from the scene apparently shows the suspect throwing the cocktails and setting himself alight in the process. Later, he can be seen shirtless, holding glass bottles containing clear liquid.
Police said he had a backpack sprayer filled with gasoline and had planned to die while carrying out his plot.
Jewish community fears
Fears are running high in the local Jewish community. The Boulder attack came just 11 days after a young Jewish couple was shot dead outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington.
That one of the victims of Sunday’s attack was a Holocaust survivor was particularly upsetting and poignant for some. The attack also took place on the eve of Shavuot, an important Jewish holiday.
Rabbi Fred Greene, of the Congregation Har Hashem, told NBC News: “She knows what it was like to be a child as a refugee and she goes around telling stories, not just to fight antisemitism but [to] stop the hatred of other people who are also looking for a better future in this community.”
“This was Jewish people, many many from my congregation, who were having a peaceful walk on the mall on a Sunday afternoon and they were violently and brutally attacked by fire. It brings up horrific images of our past,” said Rabbi Marc Soloway, whose Congregation Bonai Shalom is attended by six of Sunday’s victims.
“Just the idea of somebody who literally has their body on fire in the middle of the mall in Boulder, Colorado, it just defies belief,” he told KUSA.
A community vigil will be held Wednesday evening at the Boulder Jewish Community Center. Boulder Jewish Festival, which has long been scheduled for this Sunday, will also take place as planned but will be “reimagined” in light of the attack, the center said in a Facebook post.
