A man accused of a deadly firebomb attack during a demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, is set to plead guilty to murder and other charges. Mohamed Sabry Soliman faces up to life in prison without parole for the attack on 1 June 2025, at the Pearl Street Mall, which killed one person and injured a dozen others.
Soliman’s attorneys revealed his intention to plead guilty in a recent court filing in a related federal case. He was scheduled to appear before state district judge Nancy Salomone on Thursday to enter the plea. Soliman had previously pleaded not guilty in federal court to hate crime charges, with prosecutors considering the death penalty. In state court, he initially pleaded not guilty to murder and dozens of attempted murder and assault charges for throwing two Molotov cocktails at demonstrators.
The attack occurred at a pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder, home to the University of Colorado. An 82-year-old woman injured in the attack later died. Soliman, an Egyptian national living in the US without documentation, allegedly planned the attack for a year, driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people,” according to investigators.
Boulder’s mayor pro tem, Tara Winer, described the attack as horrific, noting that victims included close friends. At the time of the attack, Soliman lived with his family in a two-bedroom apartment in Colorado Springs, about 97 miles away. He moved to the US from Kuwait in 2022 with his wife and five children, working low-paying jobs. The couple divorced in April.
Investigators allege Soliman intended to kill roughly 20 participants at the weekly demonstration. He threw two of more than two dozen Molotov cocktails he had with him while yelling, “Free Palestine!” Federal prosecutors claim the victims were targeted due to their perceived or actual connection to Israel. Soliman’s defense argues he should not face hate crime charges because his motivation was opposition to Zionism, not anti-Semitism, as an attack based on political views is not a hate crime under federal law.
