Man pleads not guilty to state charges related to Boulder flamethrower attack

BOULDER, Colo. (CN) — A man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to state charges related to a flamethrower attack on demonstrators who were calling attention to Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado, in June.

Prosecutors say Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, yelled “free Palestine” as he burned attendees at a “Run for Their Lives” event held June 1 at Boulder’s famed Pearl Street Mall. According to prosecutors, Soliman was armed with homemade explosives and a flamethrower made from a pesticide sprayer. The victims include 15 people and a dog.

Once taken into custody, prosecutors reported that Soliman told investigators he had been planning to attack the “Zionist group” for a year, hoping to bring “vengeance for his people,” and that he learned how to make the explosives on YouTube.

An Egyptian immigrant, Soliman had been living in Colorado Springs since 2022, which is two hours south of Boulder.

Boulder police officers said they found more than a dozen Molotov cocktails in Soliman’s backpack and a weed sprayer containing flammable liquid and that he doused himself with gasoline, intending to self-immolate rather than be taken into custody.

In state court, Soliman also faces 52 counts of attempted murder after deliberation and with extreme indifference, one count of animal cruelty, and more than a dozen counts of assault and possessing an incendiary device and committing a crime of violence. Twentieth Judicial District Attorney Michael Dougherty filed an additional charge of first-degree murder following the death of 82-year-old Karen Diamond in June.

Each charge of attempted first-degree murder carries up to 48 years in prison.

Soliman is also scheduled to go to trial on federal hate crime charges in June, to which he pleaded not guilty.

Soliman is represented in state court by public defender Kathryn Herold.

Twentieth Judicial District Judge Nancy Salomone is presiding over the case.

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