'Antisemitic terror attack' on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall planned for a year, FBI says; 4 new victims found

DENVER — The man accused of injuring 12 people on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall with a “makeshift flamethrower” and Molotov cocktails spent more than a year planning the “targeted act of violence” against a group calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, law enforcement officials said Monday.

Mohammed Sabry Soliman, 45, intended to carry out a mass shooting in downtown Boulder and only switched to an explosive plan after he was denied a gun because of his immigration status, county investigators said in an arrest affidavit.

Police identified four additional victims in the attack on Monday, bringing the total to 12, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said during an afternoon briefing. The four additional victims had minor injuries, Boulder police Chief Stephen Redfearn said. Two people injured in the attack are still hospitalized. Officials could not say whether any of the victims were bystanders.

Soliman drove from Castle Rock to the Pearl Street Mall armed with 18 Molotov cocktails and a backpack weed sprayer filled with gasoline that he planned to use to kill a group of demonstrators who regularly walk in front of the courthouse, according to court records.

He threw two of the Molotov cocktails and police recovered another 16 at the scene, Dougherty said.

Soliman, an Egyptian citizen living in Colorado illegally, was charged with a federal hate crime in Sunday’s attack, according to an FBI arrest affidavit. The U.S. Department of Justice characterized the weekend incident as an “antisemitic terror attack.”

If convicted, Soliman could spend up to life in prison, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado J. Bishop Grewell said Monday afternoon. The U.S. attorney’s office may file additional charges in the case, Grewell said.

Soliman was also arrested on suspicion of 42 state felony charges, according to the Boulder County arrest affidavit. The state charges under investigation are:

—Eight counts of attempted first-degree murder after deliberation,

—Eight counts of attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference,

—Six counts of first-degree assault of an at-risk or elderly victim,

—Two counts of first-degree assault,

—Two counts of possession of an incendiary device,

—And 16 counts of attempted possession of an incendiary device.

If he is convicted on all counts, he faces up to 624 years in prison.

Soliman on Monday afternoon appeared virtually in court at the Boulder County Jail for his first appearance with a bandage around his head covering both ears in an orange jumpsuit. Judge Nancy W. Salomone advised that he should have no contact with any of the victims in the case, per his protection order. She made no changes to his $10 million bail.

During the hearing, the jail was on lockdown and inmates could not leave their cells to free deputies to monitor the courtroom and the jail’s entrance. At least three snipers were also stationed on the roof of the jail.

Boulder County prosecutors will file additional charges later this week for the four victims identified Monday, Dougherty said. Boulder police had not encountered the suspect before Sunday and he was not on the FBI’s radar, Redfearn and Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek said.

“We stand united in denouncing hate, terror and violence in this community,” Dougherty said Monday afternoon. “We stand united in condemning acts of antisemitism, hate and violence, and we’re also united in a strong response to this horrific attack.”

Federal officials said Soliman was living in Colorado Springs illegally with his wife and five children after overstaying a tourist visa that expired in 2023. Officials said the family cooperated with a search warrant and deferred questions about their immigration status to the Department of Homeland Security.

Soliman told investigators that he waited for a year to attack the group because he wanted his daughter to graduate from high school first, according to his arrest affidavit.

The group he targeted, Run for Their Lives, is a national movement calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

“When he was interviewed about the attack, he said he wanted them all to die, he had no regrets and he would go back and do it again,” Grewell said.

The Boulder chapter was hosting its weekly walk on the Pearl Street Mall, scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, when Soliman attacked its members outside the courthouse.

Soliman told federal officials he arrived at 12:55 p.m. and waited for the group to reach him, according to court documents.

To get as close to the group as possible, officials said Soliman dressed like a gardener. He wore an orange vest and bought flowers from Home Depot.

The attack happened just before the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which began at sundown on Sunday.

Soliman planned for more than a year and specifically targeted Boulder’s Run for Their Lives chapter, which Soliman called a “Zionist group,” federal officials said.

Soliman told law enforcement “that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” the affidavit stated.

The 45-year-old told investigators that he didn’t expect to survive the attack, according to court documents. He sprayed himself with gasoline and expected to burn alongside his victims.

“No American should experience violence motivated by hatred based on their faith or national origin, and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice will act swiftly and decisively to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement. “There can be zero tolerance for such acts in our great nation.”

The Molotov cocktails were made with bottles and jars, filled with gasoline and had red rags hanging out, according to the document. The backpack weed sprayer was found near the box of explosives.

Investigators found rags, a red gas container and paperwork with the words “Israel,” “Palestine” and “USAID” inside Soliman’s car, which was parked behind a church at 13th and Spruce streets, the affidavit stated.

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