Mohamed Sabry Soliman
Introduction
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 47-year-old Egyptian national from Colorado Springs, pleaded guilty in federal court on October 29, 2026 to committing a hate crime resulting in death, eight additional hate-crime counts, and three explosives charges for the June 1, 2025 firebombing of a group of walkers on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall — an attack the government says he carried out because of the victims’ actual or perceived Jewish religion and Israeli national origin, and which killed Karen Sorin Diamond and injured seven others .
Background Information
The target was the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives, a group that organized walks in cities across the United States to raise awareness for the hostages held after the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel. Per the plea agreement, Soliman assembled for the attack in front of the historic Boulder County Courthouse, where the group had gathered, and yelled “Free Palestine” as he threw the Molotov cocktails .
The Justice Department’s own account of the case describes a planned attack rather than a spontaneous one: Soliman admitted his intent was to kill as many people as possible, and he took measurable steps toward it — purchasing components, building over a dozen Molotov cocktails out of glass jars filled with gasoline and stuffed with rags to act as wicks, and filling a weed sprayer backpack with gasoline, much of which he did not successfully deploy .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Pleaded guilty; sentencing pending.
On June 1, 2025, Soliman threw two lit Molotov cocktails into the gathering of the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives. The Boulder Police Department responded and arrested him at the scene. The attack took the life of Karen Sorin Diamond, who suffered severe burns to every part of her body and, after more than three weeks of painful treatment in the hospital, succumbed to her injuries. Seven other people suffered significant injuries; several, including Diamond’s husband, were severely burned and spent weeks recovering in the hospital, while others were traumatized by the scene they witnessed .
The federal plea resolves the hate-crimes and explosives charges in District of Colorado court. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, announcing the plea alongside the U.S. Attorney’s office, put the count structure at 12 hate-crimes charges for using Molotov cocktails against members of Run for Their Lives and others, and stated that the attack caused permanent and life-threatening injuries to several victims beyond the death .
Public Reaction and Consequences
U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly said: “By his own admissions, Mohamed Soliman’s hateful attack on our neighbors in Boulder was antisemitic,” adding that “antisemitism erodes the common ties that bind our great nation together and there is no place for it in America.” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said, “No one should be subjected to violence because of their religion or national origin,” and FBI Counterterrorism Division Assistant Director Jarod Brown said Soliman “conducted a despicable attack on people he believed to be Jewish or who support Israel, and with today’s plea he is admitting his guilt” .
The penalties Soliman now faces are measured in lifetimes: per the Justice Department, nine of the hate-crimes counts carry a maximum of life in prison, and the three others carry up to 50 years each, to run consecutively to any other prison term, with fines of up to $250,000 per count .
Current Status
Soliman pleaded guilty before U.S. Senior District Judge John L. Kane, who presided over the hearing; sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2027. The case was investigated by the FBI Denver Field Division and the Boulder Police Department, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa Hindman and Daniel Pastor prosecuting alongside Justice Department Trial Attorneys Sarah Howard and Khalil Quinan .
The plea does not close the government’s account of the harm: the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division statement records that beyond the death, the attack caused permanent and life-threatening injuries to several others, and the sentencing hearing of January 7, 2027 will fix the term that the plea agreement’s count structure — life-maximum counts stacked on consecutive 50-year counts — has made effectively unbounded .
Impact on Their Career/Life
There is no public record of a career to speak of beyond the attack itself: the releases identify Soliman by his age, his nationality, and his city, and the acts he admitted to — building more than a dozen firebombs, filling a sprayer with gasoline, throwing two of them into a crowd of weekend walkers — now stand as his own admissions in a federal plea agreement. At 47, facing nine counts with life maximums and three more stacked consecutively behind them, his remaining life is scheduled to be spent in federal custody, with the sentencing hearing of January 7, 2027 to set the number .
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado, “Man Who Carried Out Antisemitic Firebomb Attack in Boulder Pleads Guilty To Federal Hate Crimes,” October 29, 2026 — source
- Justice Department, Office of Public Affairs, “Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crimes in Deadly Attack on Boulder, Colorado, Gathering,” October 29, 2026 — source