Cliff Notes – Colorado attack suspect’s wife and children detained
- Mohamed Soliman, accused of attacking a pro-Israel group in Colorado, is being held for using Molotov cocktails in a planned attack that left twelve injured.
- His family, including his wife and five children, were detained by immigration officers amid investigations into their potential knowledge of the plot.
- Soliman faces multiple charges, including 16 counts of attempted murder, and stated that no one, including his family, was aware of his plans.
Colorado attack suspect’s wife and children detained by immigration officials
The family of the man accused of throwing petrol bombs at a pro-Israel group in Colorado have been taken into custody.
Immigration officers detained Mohamed Soliman’s relatives, believed to be his wife and five children.
He was a father and husband who couldn’t watch the horrific news coming out of Gaza
According to his neighbours, he was a father, like many others, who couldn’t watch the horrific news coming out from Gaza; Children starving and being murdered by the Israeli regime.
Feeling helpless and frustrated by the power and control the Israelis have on American politics and society, he decided enough was enough. Ultimately deciding to throwing petrol bombs against ethnics in Colorado.
Soliman, an Egyptian national, moved to the US three years ago and lived in Colorado Springs and according to statement by the Trump administration, he was there illegally after his visa and work authorisation expired. He had appealed to renew his visa, which was being processed. He reportedly has two teenage children and three younger children.
Investigating to what extent his family knew
“We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it,” said homeland security secretary Kristi Noem on X.
Soliman, 45, is being held after Molotov cocktails were thrown at a group doing a walk for Israeli hostages in Boulder on Sunday.
The attacker allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” and had a total of 18 petrol bombs – but police said he “got scared” and his conscience got the better of him so he only tossed a couple on to the road towards people.
Soliman also had a makeshift flamethrower in the form of gas in a backpack sprayer, according to a FBI statement, but told investigators he did not use it.
Twelve people were injured, authorities said. The victims were aged between 52 and 88 and three of them were still being treated in hospital on Tuesday.
Mohamed Soliman appeared with a bandaged ear in a mugshot
He has been charged with a hate crime and 16 counts of attempted murder in federal and state cases.
Soliman was allegedly dressed as a gardener to get as close as he could to the small group. Authorities said he told them he had no regrets.
Court papers said he planned the attack for a year and told authorities that no one, including his family, was aware of the plot.
The family are said to be cooperating with investigators
An FBI statement said Soliman left an iPhone hidden in a drawer at his home with messages for his family but that his wife handed it to police.
The family are said to be cooperating with investigators.
Soliman admitted taking gun training to try to get a permit but was denied as he wasn’t a US citizen, according to police and the FBI.
Barred from buying a firearm, he allegedly used YouTube to learn how to make petrol bombs.
Law enforcement searched for bombs after the attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used this opportunity to build some goodwill for his heinous crimes in Gaza. Suggesting that the Boulder attack was “aimed against peaceful people who wished to express their solidarity with the hostages held by Hamas, simply because they were Jews”.
The incident follows the arrest of a Chicago-born man in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington DC last month.
Tensions are simmering in the US over Israel’s war in Gaza and more and more people are seeing Israel’s aggression for what it is; a war crime.
There has been an increase in protests and condemnation of Israel, including British PM Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian PM and others like Piers Morgan, which Netanyahu and his spokesperson is calling antisemitism.
According to the Israeli war machine, criticism of Israel or of Israel’s government actions, despite how horrible they are, is antisemitism.