An Egyptian man who authorities say admitted to them that he spent a year planning an attack on a small group is now facing both federal and state charges.
The news comes following Sunday’s attack in Boulder, Colorado that left several people hospitalized with burns.
Mohammed Sabry Soliman now faces a federal hate crime charge and state charges of attempted murder, prosecutors announced during a Monday afternoon news conference.
The attack happened Sunday afternoon as a small group of pro-Israeli supporters gathered to march for the release of hostages in Gaza. Video posted online show the immediate aftermath, with a shirtless Soliman pacing back and forth as those who gathered tend to the injured.
Boulder police later moved in and arrested Soliman. Both a federal charging document and an accompanying arrest warrant affidavit spell out that Soliman, originally from Egypt, told authorities he’d been planning the attack for a year but wanted to wait for his oldest daughter to graduate high school before completing it.
The charging documents also state Soliman told authorities he looked up on YouTube “how to make Molotov cocktails”, purchased the ingredients and drove to Boulder from Colorado Springs where he’s been living with his wife and children since 2022.
Along the way, authorities said he stopped for gasoline, which officials said was used as fuel in the Molotov cocktails and a bottle of weed sprayer.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Soliman told authorities that he “did not spray gas on anyone but himself because he planned on dying,” and that he only threw two Molotov cocktails because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before.
“The charges allege that he did was to throw Molotov cocktails at a group of men and women – some of them in their late 80s – burning them – as they peacefully walked on a Sunday to draw attention to hostages in Gaza,” said acting U.S. attorney J. Bishop Grewell. “And 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.”
NBC 5 Investigates spoke to Michael Masters with the Secure Community Network Monday afternoon. The Chicago-based non-profit analyses and tracks threats against the Jewish community.
Boulder police and the FBI said Soliman was not on their radar.
“This is the second attack in under two weeks and that means we need to take our preparations – not just from a security and intelligence perspective – but physical security around all our events whether they are outside or inside. We have to have a multi-layered approach to our security,” Masters said.
Soliman entered the U.S. on a temporary visa in 2022, which expired in 2023. A Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News he did have a pending asylum case.
The district attorney told reporters Soliman was being held on a $10,500,000 no cash bail on state charges of attempted murder.
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