US immigration authorities detain the family of the man charged in the
Colorado attack
[June 04, 2025]
By COLLEEN SLEVIN, JESSE BEDAYN and REBECCA SANTANA
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The wife and five children of an Egyptian man
accused of firebombing an event in Colorado in support of Israeli
hostages were taken into custody Tuesday by U.S. immigration officials
and threatened with a swift deportation.
The family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, could be deported as early as
Tuesday night, the White House said in a post on X. It’s rare that
family members of a person accused of a crime are detained and
threatened with deportation in this way.
Soliman, disguised as a gardener, had planned to kill all of the roughly
20 participants in Sunday's demonstration and had 18 Molotov cocktails,
but he threw just two while yelling “Free Palestine,” police said.
Soliman, who federal authorities say has been living in the U.S.
illegally, didn’t carry out his full plan “because he got scared and had
never hurt anyone before,” police wrote in an affidavit.
The two incendiary devices he threw were enough to injure 12 of the
participants in the weekly demonstration held at the popular Pearl
Street pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder, authorities said, noting
that he expressed no remorse about the attack.
Soliman told authorities that no one, including his family, knew about
his plans for the attack, according to court documents that, at times,
spelled his name as “Mohammed.”
According to an FBI affidavit, Soliman told police he was driven by a
desire “to kill all Zionist people” — a reference to the movement to
establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel.
Soliman left an iPhone hidden in a desk drawer at his Colorado Springs
home that contained messages to his family, according to an FBI
affidavit. After his arrest, his wife gave his phone to police, saying
it was his but was also used by other family members.
Defendant's immigration status
Soliman was born in el-Motamedia, an Egyptian farming village in the
Nile Delta province of Gharbia that's located about 120 kilometers (75
miles) north of Cairo, according to an Egyptian security official who
spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk
to the media. Soliman was also a handball player for a club in Cairo,
the club's former chairman wrote on Facebook.
Before moving to Colorado Springs three years ago, he spent 17 years in
Kuwait, according to court documents.
He has been living in the U.S. illegally, having arrived in August 2022
on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland
Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on X. She
said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work
authorization in March 2023, but that it also expired. The immigration
status of his wife and children is not clear, and DHS did not respond to
requests for additional information.
Hundreds of thousands of people overstay their visas each year in the
United States, according to the Homeland Security Department reports.
The overstay rate for Egyptians on business or tourist visas is low
compared to many other countries.
The case against Soliman
Soliman told authorities that he had been planning the attack for a year
and was waiting for his daughter to graduate before carrying it out, the
affidavit said.
A newspaper in Colorado Springs that profiled one of Soliman’s children
in April notes the family’s journey from Egypt to Kuwait and then to the
U.S. It said after initially struggling in school, she landed academic
honors, founded an Arabic club and volunteered at a local hospital as
part of her plan to attend medical school.
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The flag of Israel tops a makeshift memorial for victims of an
attack outside of the Boulder County, Colo., courthouse as a light
rain falls Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David
Zalubowski)
Soliman currently faces federal hate crime charges and attempted
murder charges at the state level, but authorities say additional
charges could be brought. He's being held in a county jail on a $10
million bond.
His attorney, Kathryn Herold, declined to comment after a state
court hearing Monday.
The attack unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war,
which continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a
spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. The attack
happened at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and
barely a week after a man who also yelled “Free Palestine” was
charged with fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a
Jewish museum in Washington.
Six victims hospitalized
The victims ranged in age from 52 to 88, and their injuries spanned
from serious to minor, officials said. They were members of the
volunteer group called Run For Their Lives who were holding their
weekly demonstration.
Three victims remained hospitalized Tuesday at the UCHealth
University of Colorado Hospital, spokesperson Kelli Christensen
said.
One of the 12 victims was a child when her family fled the Nazis
during the Holocaust, said Ginger Delgado of the Arapahoe County
Sheriff’s Office, who is acting as a spokesperson for the family of
the woman, who doesn't want her name used.
Molotov cocktails found
Witnesses and police have said Soliman threw two incendiary devices,
catching himself on fire as he hurled the second. Soliman took off
his shirt and what appeared to be a bulletproof vest before police
arrived and arrested him, said witness Alex Osante of San Diego.
Solimon told authorities he had gas in a backpack sprayer but didn't
spray it on anyone but himself because “he had planned on dying,”
officials said.
Soliman also told investigators that he took a concealed-carry class
and tried to buy a gun but was denied because he isn't a U.S.
citizen.
Soliman attempted to purchase a handgun in Colorado Springs about
seven months ago but was denied the gun after a background check,
Rob Low, a spokesperson for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation,
said in a statement. A month later, he was denied a concealed carry
handgun permit.
Low said that CBI cannot specify why someone was denied, though
Soliman told investigators that it was because he isn’t a U.S.
citizen. If Soliman’s immigration status caused his rejection, CBI
would have sent ICE a notification, Low said.
Authorities said they believe Soliman acted alone. Although they did
not elaborate on the nature of his injuries, a booking photo showed
him with a large bandage over one ear.
___
Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker in Washington, Heather
Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, Samy Magdy in Cairo and Sean
Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
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