Man to plead guilty in Colorado firebombing attack on pro-Israel demonstrators

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A man accused of killing one person and injuring a dozen more in a firebomb attack on Colorado demonstrators showing support for Israeli hostages in Gaza plans to plead guilty this week to murder and other charges, according to court documents.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole in the June 1 attack in downtown Boulder, according to the documents filed by his attorneys on Sunday in a related federal case.

Soliman had previously pleaded not guilty after he was accused of throwing two Molotov cocktails during the demonstration at a pedestrian mall. An 82-year-old woman who was injured in the attack later died. A dozen others were also injured.

Soliman is an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the U.S. illegally. Investigators say he planned the attack for a year and was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people.”

Boulder Mayor Pro Tem Tara Winer said the victims included some of her close friends and she planned to attend Thursday's court hearing to support their fight for justice.

“It was a horrific attack,” Winer said by email. “Their lives were changed forever."

Soliman faces dozens of state charges including murder and attempted murder.

He has pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges. Prosecutors are considering whether to seek the death sentence in that case, according to his attorneys. Soliman's attorneys said he offered last August to plead guilty to the federal charges and would accept a sentence of life in prison. They said federal officials had not yet decided on the offer.

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office declined comment.

The Associated Press left voicemail messages for Soliman's attorneys in both cases. His federal defenders said in Sunday's court filing that the attack "was profoundly inconsistent" with Soliman's prior conduct and “came as a total shock to his family.”

Before the attack, Soliman had been living with his family in a two-bedroom apartment in Colorado Springs. He had worked in a series of low-paying jobs since moving to the U.S. from Kuwait in 2022 with his wife and their five children, according to his attorneys. The couple divorced in April, his attorneys said.

Shannon Carbone with the 20th Judicial District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the state case, declined to comment on Soliman's intention to plead guilty, citing court restrictions on public comments by prosecutors.

“From the very first day, our office has been committed to fighting for justice in this case,” Carbone wrote in an email, adding that County Attorney Michael Dougherty will address the case following Thursday's hearing.

Investigators say Soliman told them he intended to kill the roughly 20 participants at the weekly demonstration at Boulder’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall. But he threw just two of more than two dozen Molotov cocktails he had with him while yelling, “Free Palestine!” Police said he told them he got scared because he had never hurt anyone before.

Federal prosecutors allege the victims were targeted because of their perceived or actual connection to Israel. But Soliman’s federal defense lawyers say he should not have been charged with hate crimes because the evidence shows he was motivated by opposition to Zionism, the political movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel.

An attack motivated by someone’s political views is not considered a hate crime under federal law.

State prosecutors have identified 29 victims in the attack. Thirteen were physically injured, and the others were nearby and are considered victims because they could have been hurt. A dog was also injured in the attack, and Soliman has been charged with animal cruelty.

Soliman's wife, Hayam El Gamal, and their children spent 10 months in immigration detention until a federal judge in Texas ordered their release in April.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in San Antonio allowed their release on the condition that El Gamal and her oldest child, who is 18, wear electronic monitoring. He released the family even though an immigration appeals court dismissed their case to stay in the U.S. and issued a deportation order.

Soliman’s attorneys have sought to block the deportation of El Gamal and the children until a judge determines they won’t need to be present for any court proceedings in his federal case.