According to an indictment released on Wednesday, federal prosecutors this week filed new accusations of hate crimes and explosives against the defendant in the fire assault on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall.
In the new indictment, 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman—who had previously only been charged with one federal hate crime count in the June 1 attack—was charged with nine hate crimes, two counts of using a fire or explosive device to commit a felony, and one count of carrying an explosive while committing a felony, according to court documents.
Accused of shouting “Free Palestine” and hurling Molotov cocktails at people who had gathered on the well-known pedestrian mall for a weekly demonstration calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, Soliman is an Egyptian immigrant who authorities claim was living in the United States illegally.
Days after Soliman’s reasons for the attack were discussed at a preliminary hearing held last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the new federal charges have been filed, replacing the initial single hate crime count.
The hate crime charges are being pursued by federal prosecutors on the grounds that Soliman targeted his victims based on their perceived or actual national origin, specifically that they were Israeli or that he thought they were.
According to Soliman’s defense lawyers, he believed that Zionists, the group he listed as his target, were individuals who held certain political beliefs that were not exclusively associated with Israeli nationality but rather shared by people from other countries.
Following a preliminary hearing on June 18, a federal judge permitted the hate crime case to proceed, but stated that a jury will determine Soliman’s reasons and if they are directly related to his nationality.
Additionally, Soliman is facing 118 criminal charges in state court, including numerous counts of assault and attempted first-degree murder.
The attack claimed the lives of fifteen people and a dog. The latest indictment names eight people as victims of a hate crime.
While claiming that his attack had nothing to do with Jews or the Jewish community, Soliman told authorities that he wanted to kill all Zionists. According to court testimony, he scrawled the number 1187 in marker on the T-shirt he was wearing at the time of the attack, seemingly alluding to a historic conflict in which the city of Jerusalem was taken from Christian to Muslim rule in the year 1187.
According to law enforcement officials, Soliman spent more than a year planning the attack and originally intended to carry out a mass shooting on the group. He equipped himself with Molotov cocktails and a homemade flamethrower fashioned from a weed sprayer after a background check prevented him from purchasing a pistol.
When the protesters stopped at the historic Boulder County Courthouse, he attacked them while posing as a gardener.
According to Boulder officials, all 15 of the injured patients were expected to live. They consist of seven males and eight women, with ages ranging from 25 to 88. According to court testimony, the most seriously affected victim had 60% of their body burned.
