Who Is the Suspect in the Colorado Attack?

The suspect in the Boulder, Colo. attack on demonstrators rallying in support of Israeli hostages has been formally charged with 118 criminal charges on the state level, including 28 counts

of attempted murder, as well as a federal hate crime.

The suspect, identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, is an Egyptian citizen who had overstayed a tourist visa and was living illegally in the United States, the Department of Homeland

Security said Monday. He entered the U.S. in August 2022 and remained after his visa expired in February 2023, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the department. She said that

Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022, but did not share details about the status of his claim.

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“The Colorado terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country,” McLaughlin told TIME in a statement.

Soliman was arrested Sunday after authorities said he used a makeshift flamethrower to assault participants in a weekly march called Run for Their Lives, held in downtown Boulder to draw

attention to the 58 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas after the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Witnesses said he shouted “Free Palestine” as he threw an incendiary device into

the crowd.At least fifteen people, ranging in age from 25 to 88, were injured in the attack, as well as a dog. Authorities said at least eight were hospitalized with burns and other

injuries.

Read more: What We Know About the Victims of the Colorado Attack

Soliman, who was living in Colorado Springs, was also injured and taken to a hospital to be medically evaluated before being booked into the Boulder County Jail on multiple charges. He faces

28 counts of first-degree attempted murder on the state level, as well as a number of assault, explosives, and other charges, according to court documents. The Justice Department has also

charged Soliman with a federal hate crime. He is being held on a $10 million bond.

Soliman’s wife and five children were taken into ICE custody on Tuesday, the White House said in a post on its official X account, adding that they could be deported as soon as that night

under expedited removal. A federal judge temporarily blocked their deportation in a Wednesday ruling. Hearings are set to be held in the case next week.

Federal and local authorities are investigating Sunday’s attack as an act of terrorism.

“The facts we have at this time make it clear that this is a targeted act of violence,” said Redfearn at a Sunday evening press conference. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a

statement that the attack “appears to be a hate crime given the group that was targeted.”

The incident has stirred anxiety within the Jewish community, which has already been reeling from a series of recent attacks. Two weeks ago, two Israeli Embassy aides were shot and killed

outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. And in April, a man set fire to the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish.

Read more: The Rise of Antisemitism and Political Violence in the U.S.

Here’s what to know about Soliman, the suspect in the Boulder attack.

‘Illegal alien’: The Trump Administration The Trump Administration on Monday said that Soliman entered the U.S. on a B-2 tourist visa, which typically allows stays of up to six months, and

remained illegally after it expired in February 2023. He had applied for asylum in September 2022, but his claim may have been delayed amid a court backlog of more than 3.6 million cases.

This image provided by the Boulder Police Dept. shows Mohamed Sabry Soliman. Boulder Police Dept/AP In a social media post, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called the

suspect an “illegal alien” and criticized the Biden Administration for approving his work permit. “Suicidal migration must be fully reversed,” Miller said.

The Department of Homeland Security and the White House did not immediately return a request for comment on the status of his asylum claim.

During the incident, he is heard on video saying “How many children have you killed?” and “We have to end Zionists, they are killers.” One law enforcement official told CNN that following

the attack he said, “I did it to avenge my people.”

An F.B.I. affidavit said that Soliman confessed to the attack and told police he would do it again. He told investigators that he had researched and planned the attack for more than a year,

according to court documents.

Soliman also told authorities he had previously tried to buy a firearm but could not because he is not a legal citizen, so instead used Molotov cocktails, Acting U.S. Attorney for the

District of Colorado J. Bishop Grewell said Monday.

Sixteen unused Molotov cocktails were found in Soliman's vicinity at the time of his arrest, law enforcement officials said.

President Donald Trump expressed condolences for the victims on Truth Social. “This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals

from our Homeland,” he said in a post, claiming that Soliman “came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy” and that “he must go out under ‘TRUMP’ Policy.”

Read more: Ehud Barak: Israel Must Back Donald Trump’s Deal To End the War in Gaza

Did he act alone? “At this time it appears the perpetrator acted alone,” Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Denver field office, Mark Michalek, said at a Monday afternoon press conference.

But he noted that authorities “do continue to investigate all possibilities and pursue all investigative leads.”

“If we uncover evidence that others knew of this attack or supported the subject in this attack, rest assured that we will aggressively move to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of

the law,” he said.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a post on X on Tuesday announcing the detainment of Soliman’s wife and children that authorities were “investigating to what

extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it.”

Soliman is next set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing in the federal hate crime case on June 18. A preliminary hearing in the state case is set for July 15.