Man Who Carried Out Antisemitic Firebomb Attack in Boulder Pleads Guilty To Federal Hate Crimes

DENVER - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announces that Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 47, an Egyptian national, pleaded guilty to committing a hate crime resulting in death, eight additional hate crime charges, and three explosives charges in federal court today. The defendant admitted that he committed the attack because of the actual or perceived Jewish religion and Israeli national origin of the group he targeted.

According to the plea agreement, on June 1, 2025, the defendant threw two lit Molotov cocktails at members of 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 who were being held following the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel. The defendant conducted his attack while the group was assembled in front of the historic Boulder County Courthouse on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall and yelled "Free Palestine" as he threw the Molotov cocktails.

The defendant admitted in the plea agreement that his intent was to kill as many people as possible in the attack. He took several steps to plan his actions, including purchasing components and building over a dozen Molotov cocktail explosives-glass jars filled with gasoline and stuffed with rags to act as a wick-and a weed sprayer backpack filled with gasoline, much of which he did not successfully deploy. Boulder Police Department responded and arrested the defendant at the scene.

The defendant's hate-motivated attack took the life of Karen Sorin Diamond, who suffered severe burns to every part of her body. After over three weeks of painful treatment in the hospital, she succumbed to her injuries. The defendant's attack also caused significant injuries to seven other people who were present in front of the Boulder County Courthouse. Several of them, including Karen Diamond's husband, were severely burned and spent weeks recovering in the hospital. Others were traumatized by the horrific scene that they witnessed.

"By his own admissions, Mohamed Soliman's hateful attack on our neighbors in Boulder was antisemitic," said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly. "All Americans should feel free to pursue their faith and way of life without fear that doing so will put their personal safety at risk. Antisemitism erodes the common ties that bind our great nation together and there is no place for it in America. We are grateful for the trust and support of the victims and the Boulder community as we prosecuted this case."

"The chaos inflicted by this defendant spread its seeds far beyond Pearl Street, Boulder, and Colorado," said Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski of the FBI Denver Field Office. "FBI Denver is proud of the role we played in this case alongside our partners in Boulder: We do not tolerate acts of hate and terror against our neighbors. We will continue to work to keep our community safe and seek justice for victims."

Sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2027.

United States Senior District Judge John L. Kane presided over the hearing.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Denver Field Division and the Boulder Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa Hindman and Daniel Pastor of the District of Colorado handled the prosecution with the assistance of Trial Attorneys Sarah Howard and Khalil Quinan of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division's Criminal Section.

Case Number: 1:25-cr-00194-JLK