Man charged with hate crime in Boulder attack on ‘Zionist people’ to appear in federal court

DENVER AP A man who communicated investigators he was driven by a desire to kill all Zionist people when he threw Molotov cocktails at demonstrators raising awareness of Israeli hostages is set to make his first appearance in federal court on Friday to face a hate crime charge Mohamed Sabry Soliman is accused in Sunday s attack on the weekly event in Boulder which investigators say he planned for a year The federal matter is being adjudicated in Denver but Soliman was also charged in state court in Boulder Thursday with attempted murder and assault counts as well as counts related to the Molotov cocktails police say he carried to the demonstration Federal officials say Soliman an Egyptian national has been living in the U S illegally Soliman is represented by state and federal masses defenders who do not comment on their cases to the media Investigators say Soliman advised them he had intended to kill all of the roughly participants at the weekly demonstration on Boulder s popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall but he threw just two of his Molotov cocktails while yelling Free Palestine Soliman narrated investigators he tried to buy a gun but was not able to because he was not a legal citizen Soliman did not carry out his full plan because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before police wrote in an arrest affidavit State prosecutors say people and a dog were casualties of the attack Not all were physically injured and particular are considered casualties for the legal episode because they were in the area and could potentially have been hurt th Judicial District Michael Dougherty noted Thursday The dog was among the injured which resulted in an animal cruelty charge being filed against Soliman Dougherty announced Three casualties remained in the hospital Friday UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital spokesperson Dan Weaver declared Soliman advised investigators that he waited until after his daughter graduated from school before launching the attack according to court documents Federal personnel want to deport Soliman s wife and their five children who range from to years old but a judge issued an order Wednesday halting deportation proceedings until a lawsuit challenging their deportation can be considered U S immigration bureaucrats took Soliman s wife and children into custody on Tuesday They are being held at a family immigration detention center in Texas