A Colorado man has been charged with 12 hate crime counts after allegedly using Molotov cocktails to attack a group of people gathered in a park in front of the Boulder County Courthouse. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 39, of Denver, was charged with the crimes on June 1, according to an indictment unsealed today in Denver.
The indictment alleges that Soliman entered the park carrying a backpack weed sprayer containing a flammable liquid and a black plastic container holding 18 glass bottles and jars, all of which contained a flammable liquid and several of which had red rags stuffed through the top to act as wicks.
At approximately 1:30 p.m., Soliman approached the ‘Run for Their Lives’ group and threw two Molotov cocktails that he had ignited. When throwing one of the Molotov cocktails, he shouted, ‘Free Palestine!’
A handwritten document was later recovered from the vehicle driven by Soliman. The document included the following statements: ‘Zionism is our enemies untill [sic] Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from our land,’ and further described Israel as a ‘cancer entity.’
The indictment further alleges that during an interview with law enforcement, Soliman stated, among other things, that he viewed ‘anyone supporting the exist [sic] of Israel on our land’ to be ‘Zionist.’ The defendant stated that he ‘decide[d] to take [his] revenge from these people’ and ‘search[ed] the internet looking for any Zionist event.’ Soliman stated that he learned of the ‘Run for Their Lives’ group through internet searches for ‘Zionist’ events and that he identified the ‘Zionist’ group when he saw the flags and signs they carried at the courthouse.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Boulder Police Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an allegation. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
The indictment charges Soliman with nine counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 249 and three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 844(h). Soliman had previously been charged by complaint with a federal hate crime offense on June 2.
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Key Facts
- State: Colorado
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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