A 46-year-old man already serving a life term in state prison for a deadly 2025 firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado, has pleaded guilty in federal court to hate crime and explosives offenses.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman entered the guilty plea on Thursday to nine hate crime counts and three explosives charges arising from the June 1, 2025, assault. Soliman, an Egyptian national from Colorado Springs, used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to target participants in a weekly gathering known as a Run for Their Lives event. The group had assembled to walk and run in solidarity with hostages held by Hamas.
The attack resulted in one death and injuries to 12 other attendees. According to federal prosecutors, Soliman admitted that he targeted the gathering because he believed the participants were Jewish or of Israeli origin, shouting “Free Palestine” during the assault. The incident unfolded against a backdrop of rising anti-Semitic incidents reported across the United States and internationally amid the war in Gaza.
“No one should be subjected to violence because of their religion or national origin,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “With this plea, we hope to deliver a measure of justice to the victims and their families.”
U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly echoed those remarks, emphasizing the motivation behind the violence. “By his own admissions, Mohamed Soliman’s hateful attack on our neighbors in Boulder was anti-Semitic,” McNeilly said. “All Americans should feel free to pursue their faith and way of life without fear that doing so will put their personal safety at risk.”
Soliman previously pleaded guilty in May to 101 state charges, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault, and explosives offenses, resulting in a sentence of life in state prison.
Under the federal charges, each of the nine hate crime counts carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment plus a $250,000 fine. The three explosives charges carry a maximum penalty of 50 years to run consecutively to any other term, in addition to the same fine amount. Soliman is scheduled to be sentenced on January 7.
