Indictment Unsealed Charging Boulder Molotov Attack Suspect with 12 Hate Crime Counts
On June 25, 2025, an indictment was unsealed in Denver, Colorado, charging Mohamed Sabry Soliman with 12 hate crime counts, including nine counts of violating the federal hate crime statute, 18 U.S.C. § 249, and three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 844(h), for the use of fire or an explosive during a felony. The Justice Department said Soliman had previously been charged by criminal complaint with a federal hate crime offense on June 2; the attack took place in Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado.
According to the indictment, on June 1 Soliman entered the park in front of the Boulder County Courthouse carrying a backpack weed sprayer that contained a flammable liquid and a black plastic container holding at least 18 glass bottles and jars, all containing a flammable liquid, several with red rags stuffed through the top to act as wicks, commonly referred to as Molotov cocktails.
At approximately 1:30 p.m., the indictment alleges, Soliman approached the Run for Their Lives group and threw two Molotov cocktails that he had ignited, shouting "Free Palestine" as he threw one of them. The group holds weekly walks to call attention to the Israeli hostages held in Gaza; the earlier complaint alleged that the flames injured eight people with burns.
The indictment alleges that a handwritten document recovered from the vehicle Soliman drove stated, among other things, "Zionism is our enemies until Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from our land," and described Israel as a "cancer entity." It further alleges that Soliman told law enforcement he viewed anyone supporting the existence of Israel on "our land" to be "Zionist," that he decided to take his revenge from these people, and that he searched the internet for Zionist events, identifying the group by the flags and signs it carried at the courthouse.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Boulder Police Department, and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado and the Criminal Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. The Justice Department release is numbered 25-658. An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Related: Egyptian National Charged with Federal Hate Crime After Boulder Gathering Attack Injures Eight
Related: Soliman pleads guilty to federal hate crimes in the Boulder attack (2026 follow-up, in Chinese)
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Denver 的 Byron White 美国法院大楼，本案起诉书在 Denver 解封。Nan Palmero 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Byron White U.S. Courthouse in Denver, where the indictment was unsealed. Photo by Nan Palmero, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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