The man accused of fire-bombing a Colorado march by people who wanted to raise awareness of hostages in Gaza was charged in state court on Thursday with attempted murder and other crimes, as those he targeted vowed to carry on their efforts.
If he is convicted, state prosecutors said Egyptian citizen Mohamed Soliman, 45, faces well over 600 years in prison for 28 attempted murder charges. There were 118 counts against him in total, including assault, use of incendiary devices and animal cruelty for the injury of a dog.
Soliman also faces federal hate crimes charges that carry a life sentence if he is convicted. He is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday.
Soliman wore orange prison clothing at Thursday’s state hearing in a courtroom inside the Boulder County jail. He appeared behind thick glass, and his hands and feet were shackled.
Judge Nancy Woodruff Salomone asked if he could hear her and if he agreed to his next court date, set for July 15. Soliman nodded affirmatively in response to both questions and made no other comments or gestures. He was not asked to enter a plea.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said three victims from Sunday’s attack remained in the hospital. Prosecutors said there were 15 victims in total, ranging in age from 25 to 88, in the attack, of whom 10 had injuries.
The Boulder public defender’s office, listed in court documents as representing Soliman, did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors say that Soliman tossed Molotov cocktails and yelled “Free Palestine” at people taking part in the walk organized by Run for Their Lives, an organization devoted to drawing attention to the hostages seized during Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel.
Soliman entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2022 and recently lived in Colorado Springs. Federal officials say he overstayed that tourist visa and his work permit had expired, so he was in the country illegally.
His family, including his wife, two teenagers and three younger children, was taken into custody on Tuesday and may be deported, though a federal judge on Wednesday blocked their immediate removal. The attack was the latest act of violence aimed at Jewish Americans amid Israel’s escalating military offensive in Gaza. It followed the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy aides outside Washington’s Capital Jewish Museum last month.
Walk on
Run for Their Lives global coordinator Shira Weiss said the Boulder attack had stunned her organization, which has 230 chapters around the globe and says it is apolitical.
“This is so sad that we were trying to do something positive and something good, and this horrible thing happened,” she said.
Following the attack, Weiss asked local chapters to pause their weekly walks, but overwhelmingly heard that people wanted to carry on.
About 80% of chapters will hold their scheduled walks this weekend including in Boulder on Sunday. That will coincide with the city’s 30th annual Jewish festival, which organizers said would go on with heightened security measures and a focus on Run for Their Lives.
Weiss has received 20 inquiries about starting new chapters since the attack in Boulder, and has also seen an increase in the number of people wanting to walk with existing groups.
Maya Bajayo, organizer for the Denver chapter of Run for Their Lives, said she expects all 50 members of her group to join the Boulder chapter on its Sunday walk.
