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2025 Boulder fire attack
Attack in Boulder, Colorado, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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On June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colorado, United States, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian man living in Colorado, allegedly used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to attack a group participating in a solidarity walk for the hostages taken from Israel during the Hamas-led October 7 attacks. The attack left sixteen people injured, including the suspect. Soliman yelled several political expressions during the attack, and later stated in a police interview that he targeted the group because he believed they were Zionists.[1] Soliman was charged with a federal hate crime[3] and 118 state criminal charges.
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Background
A solidarity walk was organized by the local Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives, a national group which has hosted weekly events since October 7, 2023, in support of the hostages held in Gaza.[4] The walk began at Pearl Street and 8th Street, passed through the Pearl Street Mall, and included a scheduled video presentation at the old Boulder County Courthouse. The organizers said that the event was not a protest, but rather a nonviolent march intended as a plea for the release of the hostages.[5]
Attack
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Before the attack, the attacker dressed himself as a gardener so he could get close to the protest without attracting much attention. He bought flowers from Home Depot, wore an orange vest, and carried a backpack weed sprayer filled with gasoline.[6]
Witnesses reported that at around 1:26 p.m. MDT, a shirtless man threw Molotov cocktails at participants in the walk near 13th Street and Pearl Street. Miri Kornfeld, an organizer with Run for Their Lives, told KUSA-TV that when they arrived a man was waiting there and threw bottles at five people, including a woman who was badly burned and had to roll on the ground to put the fire out.[7] According to the FBI, the attacker yelled "End Zionist", "Free Palestine", and "How many children killed" during the attack.[8]
Video footage and images from the scene showed burn damage on the sidewalk, and at least one person being taken away on a stretcher.[5] Police chief Stephen Redfearn said there were multiple teams still working in downtown Boulder "clearing that area for devices". He added that there were police dogs and bomb squads in the area, and that they want to make sure the area was safe before it was reopened.[9]
Police said they arrested a man at the scene.[5] According to police, the accused said that he threw two out of eighteen incendiary devices at other people, and that he sprayed himself with gasoline using the backpack device, telling investigators he planned on dying.[10]
Victims
According to state prosecutors, fifteen people, eight women and seven men, were considered victims of the attack, with the victims' ages ranging from 25 to 88. Some of those considered victims were not physically injured, but they were nonetheless considered victims because they were put at risk.[11][12] Six of the victims were hospitalized, with two requiring to be airlifted by a helicopter to the hospital.[12] Injuries included second and third degree burns; three of the victims were still hospitalized four days after the attack.[13]
The oldest victim, Barbara Steinmetz, is a Holocaust survivor who fled Europe, and another victim is a professor at the University of Colorado.[14][12]
Accused
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The suspect was identified as 45-year-old Egyptian man Mohamed Sabry Soliman, born December 15, 1979.[15][16][17] Soliman was born and raised in Egypt and lived in Kuwait for 17 years.[17] He was not previously known to local law enforcement.[6] Soliman had been living in Colorado Springs with his wife and five children at the time of the attack.[11][17] A neighbor told a local television station that Soliman and his family moved into their apartment two years prior to the attack. The neighbor's daughter was a frequent guest at Soliman's apartment.[18]
According to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, Soliman entered the United States on August 27, 2022, on a B-2 nonimmigrant visa, and applied for asylum the following month, September 2022. Soliman's visa expired in February 2023. In March 2023, he was granted work authorization, which expired on March 28, 2025. After that date, he remained in the United States illegally, according to the DHS and Department of Justice (DOJ).[19][20][21] As of June 2025, his asylum claim was still pending.[22]
According to state and federal documents, Soliman planned the attack for a year, but waited until his daughter graduated from high school, which happened three days prior to the attack.[23] He researched how to make Molotov cocktails after having been denied the purchase of a gun due to his immigration status.[24][17] Police confirmed the suspect used a makeshift flamethrower and an incendiary device.[25][26]
Investigation
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The FBI immediately described the incident as a "targeted terror attack", but during a press conference, Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said it was "too early to discuss a motive".[27] While in custody, Soliman exhibited no remorse, saying that he hates "the Zionist group", that he wanted to kill all "Zionist people", and that if given the opportunity he would do it again. He was subsequently charged with a hate crime, and these comments were referenced in the affidavit.[28][8][29]
According to the affidavit, Soliman carried 18 Molotov cocktail bottles, but only used two of them “because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before”.[11] In addition to the Molotov cocktails, Soliman carried gasoline in a commercial-grade backpack and a weed sprayer. During the investigation, he told the detectives that he planned to use the weed sprayer to kill himself by self-immolation.[30] He also said that he had been planning the attack for a year and that he wanted to stop people from “taking over our land", which he said to be Palestine.[6]
Family of the accused
After the attack, immigration agents arrested Soliman’s wife and five children, according to secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem's post on X. Federal officials will be investigating whether any of his family members knew about the attack's plan. Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that the government had revoked the visas of Soliman’s wife and her children.[11][31] According to court documents, Soliman said that no one, including his family, knew about his plans. Reportedly, Soliman left his iPhone in a desk drawer at his Colorado Springs residence that contained messages to his family. After the attack, his wife brought the phone to local police station, stating that it was his but was also used by other family members.[20]
On June 4, the Department of Homeland Security said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was “processing Soliman’s family members for removal proceedings from the U.S”. The same day, federal judge Gordon Gallagher of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado temporarily halted the deportation of the woman, Hayem El Gamal, and her five children. He said that deporting the family without "adequate process" may result in "irreparable harm".[32][33]
Legal proceedings
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On June 1, Soliman was booked into Boulder County Jail on forty-two state felony charges. His bail was set at ten million dollars. He was charged with a federal hate crime on June 2.
During a court hearing on June 2, Soliman appeared via a video feed from the Boulder County Jail. He was wearing a prison jumpsuit and had a bandage on his head, covering his right ear. State judge Nancy W. Salomone said that Soliman is banned from having contact with any of the victims under a restraining order and did not change his $10 million bail. His lawyer said that he will not disclose his arguments about his bond conditions until a future date. During the hearing, the jail was put on lockdown which allowed nearby guards to monitor the courtroom and the jail’s entrance. According to a jail spokesperson, three snipers were also put on the roof of the jail for protection.[34][35]
On Thursday June 5, Soliman was charged in Boulder county court with 118 state criminal charges, including 28 counts of attempted murder.[36] The charges included animal cruelty because the attack injured a dog.[11] He made his first federal court appearance on June 6 where he was assigned a public defender since he could not afford his own legal representation. His next scheduled court appearance is June 18.[37]
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Reactions
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The attack was characterized as antisemitic by the City of Boulder,[38][a] the DOJ,[35] and press reports.[2] On June 2, a bipartisan group of Jewish state lawmakers called for “our allies to speak out” against antisemitic violence, releasing a statement which read in part, "we must confront hate forcefully, before it becomes normalized".[40] On June 4, the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos,[41] condemned the attack as an antisemitic act, and connected it to other attacks against Jews and synagogues in the US and France.[42]
Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued a statement on X, writing that "Hate is unacceptable in our Colorado for all, and I condemn this act of terror".[43] U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that the DOJ would hold the alleged attacker "accountable to the fullest extent of the law".[44]
U.S. President Donald Trump announced in a post on Truth Social on June 2, 2025, that Soliman would be deported in addition to his arrest under his Administration, stating: "This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland. My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!”.[45][46] On June 4, Trump cited the incident as motivation for his second-term travel ban on foreign nationals from 12 countries and restrictions from 7 additional countries. Egypt was not among the countries listed for ban or restriction.[47]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack on June 2, attributing it to the blood libel conspiracy theory.[48]
See also
Notes
- The statement issued by the City of Boulder was signed by the mayor, mayor pro-tem, city manager, and all but one councilmember. Councilmember Taishya Adams refused to sign the statement, citing her desire to characterize the attack as both antisemitic and anti-Zionist.[39]
References
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