Suspect in 'antisemitic terror attack' on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall planned for a year, FBI says

Lauren Penington, The Denver Post on Jun 2, 2025

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The man accused of injuring eight 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, according to federal court documents filed Monday.

Mohammed Sabry Soliman, 45, has been 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 10 years in prison, five years on supervised release and owe $250,000 in fines on the federal hate crime charge.

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.

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

Soliman threw two lit Molotov cocktails at a crowd of Run for Their Lives demonstrators, burning eight people, the affidavit stated. Investigators found another black plastic box with at least 14 unlit Molotov cocktails inside nearby.

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

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

Soliman told investigators that he planned the attack for more than a year and specifically targeted the Run for Their Lives chapter, which he called a “Zionist group,” federal officials said.

He confessed to the attack after being taken into custody Sunday and told the police he would do it again, according to the FBI arrest affidavit.

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

“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, contained clear liquid and had red rags hanging out, according to the document. A backpack weed sprayer was also discovered near the box of explosives.

Federal officials said the jars and weed sprayer were all filled with gasoline.

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.

A news conference with more information about Soliman’s federal and pending state charges is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Monday.

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