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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 October 7 attacks. The attack left at least seven people injured, including the suspect. An 82-year-old woman died three and a half weeks later from injuries suffered during the attack.[1] 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.[2] Soliman was charged with a dozen charges of 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]
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Attack
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Before the attack, the attacker dressed himself as a gardener so he could get close to the walkers 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 them. A woman 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 the group of approximately 20 people. He accidentally burned himself after spraying himself with gasoline using the backpack device, telling investigators he planned on dying.[10]
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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. The two airlifted victims were taken to UCHealth's burn unit, while the others were admitted to Boulder Community Health.[12] Injuries included second and third degree burns; three of the victims were still hospitalized four days after the attack.[13] 82-year-old Karen Diamond from Colorado succumbed to her severe injuries sustained in the attack on June 25.[14]
The oldest victim, Barbara Steinmetz, is a Holocaust survivor who fled Europe, and another victim is a professor at the University of Colorado.[15][12]
Accused
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The suspect was identified as 45-year-old Egyptian man Mohamed Sabry Soliman (Arabic: محمد صبري سليمان),[16] born December 15, 1979.[17][18][19] Soliman was born and raised in el-Motamedia in Gharbia Governorate[20][21] and lived in Kuwait for 17 years.[19] He was not previously known to City of Boulder police,[6] but the El Paso County Sheriff's Office had responded to three calls involving Soliman.[22]
He had been living in the Cimarron Hills enclave of Colorado Springs with his wife and five children, ages 4 to 18, at the time of the attack.[11][19][22][23] A neighbor told a local television station that Soliman and his family moved into their home two years prior to the attack. The neighbor's daughter was a frequent guest at Soliman's home.[24]
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 the Department of Justice (DOJ).[25][26] His asylum application had not been adjudicated at the time of his arrest.[27]
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.[28] He researched how to make Molotov cocktails after having been denied the purchase of a gun due to his immigration status.[29][19] Police confirmed the suspect used a makeshift flamethrower and an incendiary device.[30][31]
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Investigation
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".[32] 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 dozen charges of hate crime, and these comments were referenced in the affidavit.[3][33][8][34]
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.[34] 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]
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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.[35][36]
On Thursday June 5, Soliman was charged in Boulder county court with 118 state criminal charges, including 28 counts of attempted murder.[37] 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. On June 18, a federal judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to proceed with a hate crime case.[23]
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Aftermath
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After the attack, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials arrested Soliman’s wife and five children, according to DHS. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said an investigation was opened to determine if his family members had any prior knowledge about the attack. Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for DHS, said the government had revoked the visas of Soliman’s wife and her children.[11][27] According to the arrest affidavit, Soliman said that no one, including his family, knew about his plans.[38] The affidavit additionally said that he left a phone in his house containing messages for his family, and that his wife brought a phone to the Colorado Springs police office after his arrest and said it belonged to Soliman.[39]
On June 4, DHS said that ICE 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 Soliman's wife, Hayem El Gamal, and her children. He said that deporting the family without "adequate process" may result in "irreparable harm".[40][41] El Gamal's lawyer posted a statement to social media on her behalf. In the statement, she condemn violence against innocent people and said that she is cooperating with the authorities.[23] [42]
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Reactions
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The attack was characterized as antisemitic by the City of Boulder,[43][a] the DOJ,[36] and press reports.[45] 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".[46]
The Boulder Jewish Community Center held a vigil on June 4 which was attended by hundreds of people. One of the speakers at the vigil was a person who was targeted in the attack. She said it was "strange to see a man with a canister looking like he was going to spray pesticide on the grass."[47]
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".[48] U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that the DOJ would hold the alleged attacker "accountable to the fullest extent of the law".[49]
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!”.[50][51] 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.[52]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack on June 2, attributing it to the blood libel conspiracy theory.[53]
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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.[44]
References
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