Egyptian Charged In Fire Attack On Boulder 'Zionists’ Planned Attack For A Year

2 dni temu

The Egyptian man charged with launching Sunday’s ghastly fire attack on a group of people promoting awareness of hostages still held in Gaza told police he planned the attack for a year and would do it again, according to an FBI affidavit. Mohammed Sabry Solimon told investigators that his attack sprang from his anger toward the State of Israel and hatred of „Zionists.” Charged with attempted murder, assault, possession of incendiary devices and a federal hate crime, he’s being held on $10 million bond.

According to the statement of an FBI agent, Solimon repeatedly said he „hated the Zionist group and did this because he hated this group and needed to stop them from taking over ‘our land,’ which he explained to be Palestine.” Soliman targeted a weekly event led by a local chapter of Run For Their Lives, an international organization whose many local chapters lead weekly, 18-minute walks — rain or shine — to promote awareness that dozens of people are still being held captive by Hamas militants in Gaza. The Boulder event typically has between 15 and 40 participants. Sunday’s crowd was estimated at 30. One regular participant said the group has endured some occasional heckling.

Founded by Shany Klein — a lawyer licensed in both Israel and California — Run For Their Lives disclaims any political stance. On Monday, the group’s global coordinator, Shira Weiss, said, „We can disagree on political issues and we can disagree on how the Israeli government or the American government is reacting to what is going on in the Middle East and in Israel. But that’s not what we’re here for. What we’re here for is to continue to raise awareness of the fact that there’s 50 people being held hostage.”

That’s not to say participants portray neutrality: Photos of the group’s events in Boulder and elsewhere show crowds of people waving Israeli flags and draped in them. Further muddying widespread attributions of the attack to „pure antisemitism,” an FBI agent’s affidavit said Solimon is likely guilty of a hate crime because he „[threw] Molotov cocktails into a pro-Israel crowd” and also refers to it as a „pro-Israel gathering.”

During his attack at Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall — a pedestrian shopping zone — Soliman reportedly yelled „Free Palestine!”, „End Zionist!” and „How many children killed?” According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 15,613 children in Gaza have been killed over the course of Israeli onslaught after Hamas invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. An analysis by the medical journal The Lancet projects the final toll will be significantly higher, owing to ongoing malnutrition and disease, and to the inevitable discovery of more bodies in the vast sea of rubble across Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the attack on „blood libels against the Jewish state and people,” while his foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, similarly blamed them on „blood libels spread in the media.”

According to the FBI, Soliman told investigators he wanted to „kill all Zionist people.” He said he contemplated an attack for more than a year, but held off on executing his plan until his daughter’s recent high school graduation. “He said he had to do it, he should do it, and he would not forgive himself if he did not do it,” according to a police detective. CNN reviewed what it believes to be Solimon’s Facebook account, which included images of Mohammed Morsi, Muslim brotherhood leader and Egypt’s first democratically-elected president — until he was ousted by a military coup that came with at least implicit encouragement of the US government.

The FBI says that, to achieve close proximity to the walk participants, Soliman disguised himself as a gardener, complete with an orange vest and flowers he’d purchased. He was also wearing a commercial-grade weed sprayer that he’d filled with gasoline and planned to use as a blowtorch to self-immolate. Authorities said he had 18 Molotov cocktails, but only hurled two of them after „he got scared,” charging documents say. Solimon said he’s researched how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube, and found his target after reading about them online.

Soliman had wanted to attack the group with a firearm, but his status as an illegal alien precluded him from buying one. He did, however, take a concealed-carry class and fired an unspecified firearm. Given his alternate choice of weapon, the casualty count was certainly lower than it might have been: Eight people between 52 and 88 years old were taken to hospitals. The unnamed 88-year-old victim has been varyingly described as a „Holocaust survivor” or „Holocaust refugee,” with a local rabbi saying she’d fled Europe for America.

One of Sunday’s march participants, Ed Victor, said his first realization of what was unfolding came in the form of intense heat:

„There was somebody there that I didn’t even notice, although he was making a lot of noise, but I’m just focused on my job of being quiet and getting lined up. And, from my point of view, all of a sudden, I felt the heat. It was a Molotov cocktail equivalent, a gas bomb in a glass jar, thrown…[somone else saw] a big flame as high as a tree, and all I saw was someone on fire.” — CBS

The Egyptian-born, 45-year-old Solimon lived in Kuwait for 17 years before moving to Colorado Springs in 2022. He was in the country illegally, as his tourist visa expired in February 2023. He’d applied for asylum upon arrival. „He came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly,” President Trump posted on Truth Social. „He must go out under 'TRUMP’ Policy.”

Up until the attack, Soliman and his wife were raising five children in a Colorado Springs apartment, and he said he kept his plan a secret from his family. He was most recently working as an Uber driver — the company helpfully announced that Solimon’s account has been cancelled, so you needn’t worry about him breaking out of jail and then picking you up at Denver International Airport.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 06/03/2025 – 13:05

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