Mohamed Soliman pleaded guilty to 12 federal charges stemming from the June 2025 firebombing of demonstrators supporting Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado, an attack that killed an 82-year-old woman and injured 12 others.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
DENVER — An Egyptian national already serving life in prison for a deadly firebombing attack on demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal hate crime and explosives charges, acknowledging his responsibility for an assault that killed one woman and injured 12 other people.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman entered his guilty pleas in federal court in Denver on October 29, resolving the federal prosecution arising from the June 1, 2025, attack on participants in a weekly demonstration supporting hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
According to The Associated Press, Soliman pleaded guilty to nine federal hate crime counts, two counts of using fire or an explosive to commit a felony and one count of carrying an explosive while committing a felony.
Federal prosecutors have recommended an additional life sentence plus 50 years in prison. The judge has not decided whether to accept that recommendation, and sentencing is scheduled for January 7.
Prosecutors previously declined to seek the federal death penalty.
The guilty pleas follow Soliman’s May 7 conviction in Colorado state court, where he admitted to first-degree murder and more than 100 other criminal charges connected to the attack.
He received life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murder, along with an additional 2,128 years for the remaining state offenses.
The attack took place on Boulder’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall, near the Boulder County Courthouse, where members of the organization Run for Their Lives had assembled for a demonstration calling attention to Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
According to the Justice Department’s original criminal complaint, Soliman approached the demonstrators shortly before 2 p.m. and threw two lit Molotov cocktails into the gathering while shouting, “Free Palestine!”
The incendiary devices ignited among participants, causing severe burns and other injuries.
Karen Diamond, an 82-year-old participant, suffered extensive burns and died approximately three weeks later.
Her family described the suffering she experienced before her death as “indescribable pain.”
Twelve other people were injured during the attack, which drew national attention and prompted increased security concerns among Jewish communities.
Federal prosecutors said Soliman deliberately targeted the demonstrators because they were Jewish or because he perceived them as supporting Israel.
Investigators determined that the attack followed an extended period of preparation.
According to the FBI’s criminal complaint, Soliman told investigators he had spent approximately a year planning the assault and had researched methods for constructing Molotov cocktails.
He traveled from Colorado Springs to Boulder with incendiary devices and materials intended for the attack.
Authorities recovered at least 14 additional unlit Molotov cocktails and a backpack weed sprayer believed to contain a flammable substance near the location where Soliman was apprehended.
Investigators also searched his vehicle, which was parked approximately one block away, and recovered a gasoline container, material consistent with rags used in the incendiary devices and documents bearing references to Israel and Palestine.
During questioning, Soliman admitted that he had carried out the attack and said he wanted to kill people he described as Zionists.
According to the criminal complaint, he told investigators that he wished members of the group were dead and that he would carry out a similar attack again.
He also said the assault was connected to his opposition to Israeli actions in Gaza.
The federal case focused on the allegation that Soliman intentionally selected his victims because of their actual or perceived religious identity or national origin.
The hate crime charges were brought under federal civil rights laws prohibiting violent attacks motivated by protected characteristics.
The additional explosives charges addressed his use and possession of incendiary devices in connection with the offenses.
The latest guilty pleas remove the need for a federal trial that had been scheduled to examine the evidence and testimony surrounding the attack.
Soliman had previously pleaded not guilty to the federal charges in June 2025.
His change of plea comes nearly five months after the conclusion of his state prosecution.
During his May sentencing hearing in Boulder, Soliman admitted responsibility for the attack and offered condolences to Diamond’s family.
According to CBS Colorado, he told the court through an Arabic interpreter that he accepted full responsibility for his conduct.
He also asked to receive the maximum available punishment and said he wished Colorado permitted the death penalty.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty characterized the attack as an assault directed against Jewish residents.
“This was an attack on the Jewish community and an act of terror,” Dougherty said following the state sentencing.
The June 2025 firebombing had an immediate impact on Boulder, a university community northwest of Denver.
Run for Their Lives had been holding weekly demonstrations along Pearl Street for more than a year before the attack.
The group’s gatherings were intended to maintain public attention on the hostages abducted by Hamas during the October 2023 assault.
Investigators said Soliman approached the demonstration while posing as a gardener, allowing him to get close to the participants before throwing the incendiary devices.
The attack also prompted scrutiny of Soliman’s immigration history.
Federal authorities said he entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2022 and later sought asylum. He was living in Colorado Springs with his wife and five children when the attack occurred.
His relatives subsequently became involved in immigration proceedings, although authorities have not accused them of participating in the firebombing.
According to local Colorado reporting, his former wife and children have faced separate immigration proceedings following the attack.
Their attorneys have stated that the family recognizes the harm Soliman caused and hopes the conclusion of the criminal proceedings will help victims and the community move forward.
The state and federal prosecutions have proceeded separately because they involve distinct legal authorities and criminal statutes.
Colorado prosecuted Soliman for murder, attempted murder, assault and other offenses under state law.
Federal prosecutors pursued hate crime and explosives charges based on the alleged targeting of victims because of their identity and the use of incendiary devices in a violent attack.
The federal guilty pleas establish Soliman’s responsibility for those offenses without requiring prosecutors to proceed to trial.
Although he is already serving a state sentence that ensures he will remain imprisoned for life, the federal sentencing will determine the additional punishment imposed for the hate crime convictions.
The judge is scheduled to consider the prosecution’s sentencing recommendation at the January 7 hearing.
For the victims and their families, Thursday’s pleas mark another stage in the legal proceedings following the attack that killed Diamond and injured a dozen others.
The federal case now moves to sentencing, where the court will determine the final punishment for Soliman’s admitted hate crimes and explosives offenses.
Original article
Comments