DENVER: A man who told investigators he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people” when he threw Molotov cocktails at demonstrators raising awareness of Israeli hostages appeared briefly in federal court for the first time Friday to face a hate crime charge.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, sat in the jury box in a Denver courtroom handcuffed and dressed in a green jail uniform, a US Marshal sitting in the row behind him. Listening to the proceedings in Arabic through an interpreter, he answered “yes” and “I understand” in Arabic as Magistrate Judge Timothy P. O’Hara explained his rights.
Before the brief hearing started, Soliman mostly looked away from the crowded gallery, but after the proceedings he nodded and smiled as his lawyers spoke to him.
A conviction on a hate crime charge typically carries a penalty of no more than 10 years in prison, but Assistant US Attorney Melissa Hindman said if the crime involves an attempted killing, the sentence can be as long as life in prison.
Soliman is represented by public defenders who do not comment on their cases to the media. He is scheduled to appear in federal court again June 18 for a hearing in which federal prosecutors will be asked to show they have enough evidence to prosecute Soliman. He’ll face a similar hearing in state court July 15.
He is accused in Sunday’s attack on the weekly demonstration in Boulder, which investigators say he planned for a year. The victims include 15 people and a dog. He has also been charged in state court in Boulder with attempted murder and assault counts as well as counts related to the 18 Molotov cocktails police say he carried to the demonstration.
Investigators say Soliman told them he had intended to kill all of the roughly 20 participants at the weekly demonstration on Boulder’s popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall, but he threw just two of his 18 Molotov cocktails while yelling “Free Palestine.” Soliman told investigators he tried to buy a gun but was not able to because he was not a “legal citizen.”
Federal authorities say Soliman, an Egyptian national, has been living in the US illegally.
Soliman did not carry out his full plan “because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before,” police wrote in an arrest affidavit.
Not all of the victims were physically injured. Some of them are considered victims because they were in the area and could potentially have been hurt in the attack, 20th Judicial District Michael Dougherty said Thursday.
Three victims remained in the hospital Friday, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital spokesperson Dan Weaver said.
The dog was among the injured, which resulted in an animal cruelty charge being filed against Soliman, Dougherty said.
Soliman told investigators that he waited until after his daughter graduated from school before launching the attack, according to court documents.
Federal authorities want to deport Soliman’s wife and their five children, who range from 4 to 17 years old, but a judge issued an order Wednesday halting deportation proceedings until a lawsuit challenging their deportation can be considered. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has described their claims as “absurd” and “an attempt to delay justice.”
US immigration officials took Soliman’s wife and children into custody Tuesday. They are being held at a family immigration detention center in Texas.
According to a court document filed Friday by the family’s lawyers, law enforcement had arranged for Soliman’s wife and children to stay in a hotel while their home was searched following the attack. After two nights, Homeland Security Investigations agents told the family they had to move to another hotel for their safety and were then met by between 10 and 20 plainclothes officers who took them into custody, the filing said.
According to the document, one of them allegedly told Soliman’s wife, “You have to pay for the consequences of what you did.”