BOULDER, Colo. (TNND) — The suspect in a “targeted terror attack” in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday was in the U.S. illegally and entered the country in August 2022 with a B2 visa that expired in February 2023, the Department of Homeland Security reported.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin added that the suspect filed for asylum in September 2022.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, of El Paso County, has been charged after injuring eight with a makeshift flamethrower on Sunday and yelling “Free Palestine” at a group of people participating in a pro-Israel demonstration, according to authorities.
Soliman was medically evaluated at a local hospital before being booked into the Boulder County jail on charges including two counts of murder in the first degree and one count of explosives or incendiary devices used during a felony, the Boulder Police Department said. He is being held on a $10 million bond.
Court documents state that Soliman was charged with a federal hate crime and that he told investigators “he researched on YouTube how to make Molotov Cocktails, purchased the ingredients to do so, and constructed them.”
He allegedly told police, “he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” and that he would conduct an attack again.
Police shared Soliman’s mugshot on Monday and confirmed that no victims have died.
Four women and four men aged between 52 and 88 were taken to Denver metro hospitals, police added.
Officers said they responded to the scene just before 1:30 p.m. at the intersection of 13th Street and Pearl Street. A man was reportedly with a weapon and setting people on fire, witnesses said.
The event where the attack took place was being held at a pedestrian mall where demonstrators gathered to call for the release of Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.
The attack happened barely a week after a man who also yelled “Free Palestine” was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside the D.C. Capital Jewish Museum.
President Donald Trump called it a “horrific attack” that “WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America.”
“He came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He must go out under “TRUMP” Policy. Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. 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!”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis responded to the incident, calling the attack a “heinous act of terror.”
“Hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable. While details emerge, the state works with local and federal law enforcement to support this investigation,” Polis wrote on X.
According to Denver-based nonprofit JEWISHcolorado, which is a part of the Jewish Federations of North America, the Run for Their Lives walk is a recurring event in downtown Boulder.
“We have been walking in Boulder, CO since Thanksgiving 2023 to show solidarity for the plight of the hostages still being held in Gaza,” according to the organization’s website. “We will continue to walk until all hostages are released.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Monday that he, his wife and the entire nation of Israel were praying for the full recovery of the people wounded in the “vicious terror attack” in Colorado.
“This attack was aimed against peaceful people who wished to express their solidarity with the hostages held by Hamas, simply because they were Jews,” Netanyahu said. “I trust the American authorities will prosecute the cold-blooded perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law and will do everything possible to prevent future attacks against innocent civilians. The antisemitic attacks around the world are a direct result of blood libels against the Jewish state and people, and this must be stopped.”
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said the “act of terror” was being investigated as an “act of ideologically motivated violence.”
“We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it,” he added.
