USA Today was compelled to significantly revise a story regarding the daughter of the Colorado terror suspect after facing widespread criticism for omitting crucial details about the attack.
The initial publication on Tuesday failed to mention that 45-year-old Egyptian national Mohamed Soliman purportedly targeted pro-Israel demonstrators with Molotov cocktails.
In response, the article was updated to include this information both in the main content and the headline, accompanied by an editor’s note explaining that the story had been amended to offer ‘context and detail’.
However, the main thrust of the piece was that Mohamed’s 18-year-old daughter, Habiba Soliman, had dreams to attend medical school in the United States.
‘Before the attack, Habiba Soliman had written about her hope of accomplishing great things,’ the article says in both versions, adding that her ‘favorite activity’ was volunteering at a local hospital.
The article further portrayed the despicable crime allegedly committed by her father as an unfortunate disruption to Habiba’s aspirations to become a physician now that the entire family is set to be deported.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, USA Today acknowledged the shortcomings of the original article.
‘When appropriate, for the sake of our readers, USA Today updates stories. Our editorial team recognized that the original version of this story lacked sufficient context and made the necessary updates promptly,’ the statement said.
USA Today published a rosy profile on Habiba Soliman, the 18-year-old daughter of the Egyptian national who threw Molotov cocktails at a group of pro-Israel demonstrators at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado
The language used in the original version of the piece, which experienced waves of backlash, downplayed the crimes Mohamed Soliman (pictured at the scene of the attack) allegedly committed, while also heaping sympathy on his daughter who may now be deported
Before the article was updated by USAToday, thousands of social media users slammed the major newspaper
The headline used to promote the USA Today article on X glossed over the brutal specifics of the attack, which left an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor with severe burns.
‘Boulder suspect’s daughter dreamed of studying medicine. Now she faces deportation,’ the headline read in the post, which is still up on the social media site.
This was also the headline used in the original version of the article, which USA Today said has been updated to include: ‘Then, her father firebombed Jewish marchers in Boulder.’
But before the update could be made, social media users had plenty of time to share their outrage at a major American newspaper showing what appeared to be sympathy for a suspected terrorist’s daughter over the innocent victims of her father’s alleged cruelty.
Many were also frustrated that USA Today seemed to be sympathizing with Mohamed’s family now that they face deportation, despite all of them being in the country illegally.
‘I don’t care what she dreamed of,’ one X user commented underneath USA Today’s post. ‘If she’s here illegally, AMERICANS dreamed that she gets deported.’
‘Interesting editorial decision to allocate more words to the family of the terrorist than to the families of the victims,’ another replied.
Christina Hoff Sommers, an author and a well-known critic of modern feminism, said she was ‘awaiting stories about how families of the burn victims are faring.’
And Anna Kelly, the Deputy White House Press Secretary, simply commented, ‘Are you so for real?’
Pictured: The original headline of the profile on Mohamed’s daughter. It describes him simply as the ‘Boulder suspect’
Pictured: The revised headline adds more details of the crime that took place and who the victims were
The opening four paragraphs of the revised article (pictured) added more context about the attack, not all of which were present in the original
This excerpt of the revised piece adds this context about the motive behind the crime. None of this was broached in the original
The main differences between the original and updated article from USA Today come in the very beginning.
The original headline, which made no mention of the pro-Israel protestors who were attacked, was updated to the following:
‘Habiba Soliman wanted to be a doctor. Then, her father firebombed Jewish marchers in Boulder.’
The opening of the original and updated version also read differently, with the latter taking the whole second and third paragraphs to better explain the gruesome attack.
‘Then her father, Mohamed Soliman, drove from Colorado Springs to Boulder on June 1, picked up 87-octane gas and flowers and made firebombs that he threw at a group of Jewish marchers on Pearl Street, investigators said,’ read the second paragraph of the updated article.
None of this context, at least in the specificity used above, was present in the original piece.
The original piece also failed to mention the motive behind the attack, which took place at an outdoor mall where about 30 people were marching to raise awareness of the Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas.
Mohamed, the suspect, allegedly branded this crowd a ‘Zionist group’ and said he wanted ‘to kill all Zionist people,’ according to investigators on the scene.
When he was arrested, Soliman reportedly told investigators he wanted ‘to kill all Zionist people’
The terror suspect has been charged with 16 counts of attempted murder of attempted first-degree murder, eight of which are ‘with intent and deliberation,’ the other eight of which are ‘with extreme indifference’
After searching his car, police also found a red gas container, rags and documents with the words ‘Israel,’ ‘Palestine,’ and ‘USAID’ on them, according to an FBI affidavit.
The original piece in USA Today did not mention any of this, even though all these details had already been widely publicized in the media.
The revised piece added much of this context in the 12th paragraph, while also mentioning his alleged statement about wanting to stop Jews from taking over Palestine.
Still, the revised piece largely retained the same angle, mostly focusing on Habiba Soliman’s struggles when she moved to the US from Kuwait as a young teenager.
The piece talks about how she joined a private charter school in Colorado Springs as a sophomore, detailing her difficulties learning English and making friends.
It’s meant to be a tragic tale, since Habiba won a college scholarship, became fluent in English and was on her way to medical school before her father messed it all up by getting them all deported.
Mohamed has been charged with 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, eight of which are ‘with intent and deliberation,’ the other eight of which are ‘with extreme indifference.’
Mohamed, who is being held on a $10 million bond, also faces federal hate crime charges. His first scheduled court appearance in Denver’s federal court is on Friday.
