DENVER (KDVR) – The suspect involved in the terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has been formally charged with more than 100 offenses following the incident that left 15 people injured on Sunday.
Forty-five-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman is facing 118 charges. He is accused of hurling Molotov cocktails at a gathering of people at the Pearl Street Mall. Additionally, Soliman is charged with a federal hate crime offense.
Charges were filed by the 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office on Thursday. The charges are for various alleged crimes, including:
- 28 counts: Criminal attempt to commit murder in the first degree
- 5 counts: Assault in the first-degree – at-risk person
- 4 counts: Assault in the first-degree
- 1 count: Assault in the third degree
- 5 counts: Criminal attempt to commit assault in the first degree
- 2 counts: Use of explosives or incendiary devices
- 16 counts: Attempt to commit use of explosives or incendiary devices
- 1 count: Cruelty to animals
- 56 counts: Crime of violence
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Soliman, originally from Egypt, had overstayed his tourist visa and was residing in the country without legal status. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained his wife and five children.
An FBI affidavit said Soliman confessed to the attack and allegedly told the police he would do it again. According to the criminal complaint, the suspect told police he had been planning the attack for a year and waited until after his daughter’s graduation to attack. He told investigators he researched and specifically targeted a “Zionist group.”
The group was holding a demonstration, which the city of Boulder said is a weekly peaceful event, as part of the Run for Their Lives organization, according to the complaint. The group hosts global running and walking events where local communities meet once a week to call for the release of the hostages held by Hamas.
Authorities said 15 people and one dog were hurt. The victims range in age from 25 to 88, including one who is a Holocaust survivor.
During a press conference on Thursday, officials announced that three people remained in the hospital from the attack.
The hearing on Thursday at the Boulder County Jail lasted for three minutes. Soliman was present in a livestream wearing an orange jumpsuit. He stood in a sectioned-off area of the courtroom that was not visible to the public, with a glass wall separating the public from Soliman, the attorneys and the judge.
Members of the public were present, but there were no victims sitting on the benches that were designated for them.
The judge asked Soliman a couple of questions, including one about when the next hearing would take place and another on whom he must not contact as this court process moves forward.
“The people had also asked for a protective order on the 4th of June. Does the defendant want to respond to that motion, or are you content with me ruling on it without a formal response?“ District Court Judge Nancy Salomone asked.
“We have no objection to that request at this time,” Soliman’s Defense attorney, Kathryn Herold, said.
Herold is the public defender who represented the man convicted in the 2021 Boulder King Soopers supermarket shooting, in which 10 people were killed. The Boulder County Assistant District Attorney in the Soliman case is Ken Kupfner, who also helped prosecute the King Soopers case.
Soliman’s next hearing on state charges is on July 15.
A federal hearing on the hate crime charge is scheduled for Friday afternoon at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Denver.
