An Egyptian man who launched a Molotov cocktail attack on a Jewish gathering in Colorado last year, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen others, pleaded guilty to all state charges on Thursday, according to U.S. media reports.
Details of the Attack
Mohamed Soliman, 46, admitted to a series of charges, including first-degree murder, for the horrific June 2024 attack in Boulder. Soliman threw incendiary devices and sprayed burning gasoline at a group of people who had assembled to show support for Israeli hostages held by Hamas following the militant group's assault on Israel in October 2023.
Karen Diamond, 82, died from her injuries more than three weeks after the attack. Her sons, Andrew and Ethan Diamond, expressed hope that Soliman would be sentenced to life in prison. In a statement read by Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, they said, "Our mother suffered indescribable pain for more than three weeks before succumbing to her injuries. Our children won't get to receive her wisdom."
Legal Proceedings and Sentencing
Soliman will be sentenced at a later date. He also faces federal hate crime charges. Prosecutors earlier stated that Soliman showed no remorse when discussing the attack, which they said he had been planning for some time. "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," J. Bishop Grewell, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, told reporters.
Police at the scene discovered 16 unused Molotov cocktails and a backpack weed sprayer containing gasoline, which investigators believe Soliman intended to use as a makeshift flamethrower.
Immigration Status and Family
U.S. Homeland Security officials reported that Soliman was in the country illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa, but he had applied for asylum in September 2022. Following the attack, his ex-wife, Hayam El Gamal, and their five children were taken into immigration custody. The Trump administration quickly pledged to deport them. The family was held in a Texas immigration facility until April, when a federal judge ordered their release. However, according to The Washington Post, authorities subsequently re-arrested them and attempted deportation, only to be halted again by federal judges.
Context of Antisemitic Attacks
Soliman's attack was one of several against Jewish individuals in Western countries following the October 7, 2023, Hamas incursion, which killed over 1,200 people in Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has left at least 72,000 dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. The offensive has also devastated much of the Gaza Strip, displacing hundreds of thousands and leaving many without access to sanitation, healthcare, or adequate nutrition.
