Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the 45-year-old Egyptian national allegedly behind the terror attack on a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday, has been charged with a federal hate crime and 16 counts of attempted murder.
Twelve people were injured when Soliman allegedly launched Molotov cocktails and fired a homemade flamethrower at a peaceful demonstration in support of the hostages in Gaza whilst shouting “Free Palestine.”
An 88-year-old Holocaust survivor was among those injured in the assault, which the FBI are investigating as a “targeted terror attack.”
Federal authorities claim in the charges that Soliman plotted the attack for a full year with the intention to “kill all Zionist people”, but held off until after his daughter graduated high school.
He is also alleged to have told emergency medics at the scene that he carried out the act as venegance for “his people”.
The Egyptian-born US resident lived in Kuwait for 17 years before moving to Colorado in 2022 with his wife and five children, according to a state arrest affidavit. Soliman reportedly applied for asylum in 2023 but has been living in the US illegally since his work permit expired in March 2025.
His alleged victims, aged between 52 and 88, were walking through Pearl Street Mall in Boulder as part of the weekly “Run for Their Lives” demonstrations, intended to advocate for the release of hostages held by Hamas since October 7, when witnesses claim Soliman, disguised as a gardener, began hurling incendiary devices into the crowd.
The incident occurred less than two weeks after the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy workers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC, fuelling yet more concerns over rising antisemitic violence in the US and drawing politicians into heated discussion over the two partisan issues: the Gaza War and US immigration policy, given Soliman’s illegal status.
Commenting on the attack a day later, US President Donald Trump said Soliman would be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law" and blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for allowing the Egyptian national into the country.
But the attack has been condemned across the political spectrum and by both Jewish and local community leaders.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis said that “hate has no place in our Colorado for anyone”.
Likewise, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest ranking Jewish elected official in the US, urged FBI officials “to use the full extent of their power to investigate this heinous attack,” adding:
“These victims did nothing wrong. They aren’t involved with the tragic conflict in the Middle East. It’s reported that one of the victims was even a Holocaust survivor.
"After all, all they were doing was expressing a simple plea: bring the hostages home. And because of their Jewish identity, they were targeted by hate.”
Soliman faces 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, eight counts of first-degree assault and one federal hate crime charge. If convicted, he could face up to 384 years for the attempted murder charges alone.
He is currently being held on a $10 million bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, according to Boulder County Jail records.
