Colorado fire attack suspect charged with 16 counts of attempted murder: Live updates

Police in Boulder, Colorado have arrested Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, in connection with the attack. The FBI called the attack a “targeted act of violence” and is investigating it as an act of terrorism.

The man allegedly shouted “Free Palestine!” as he used a “makeshift flame thrower” and threw an “incendiary device” into the crowd, the FBI said. Some 16 unused Molotov cocktails were found at the scene.

Twelve people were injured in the attack, with one in critical condition. The victims have not been publicly identified.

Here’s what you need to know.

Officials are just getting started unraveling what led Mohamed Sabry Soliman to allegedly attack a group of Jewish activists on Sunday at a hostage march in Colorado.

Soliman was reportedly cooperative after being arrested on Sunday, and told the FBI about an iPhone hidden in his Colorado Springs home with messages to his family, as well as a journal.

The Egyptian national already told investigators about what motivated the attack, according to the FBI, with Soliman saying he “hated this group and needed to stop them from taking over ‘our land,’ which he explained to be Palestine,” according to court documents.

Soliman is due next in court at 3:30pm MT on Thursday, where he will face the official filing of state charges.

He is currently in jail in Boulder County on $10 million bond.

“Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America,” the president fumed on Truth Social.

Mike Bedigan has the details.

Governor Jared Polis is calling on officials to bring steep penalties against Mohamed Soliman, the Egyptian national accused of attacking a group of Jewish activists with Molotov cocktails as he yelled “Free Palestine” at an event raising awareness about hostages in Gaza on Sunday .

“Clearly he should never see the light of day again,” Polis told CNN on Monday night.

Soliman is facing a federal hate crime charge, as well as a variety of state charges for allegedly carrying out the attack, which injured 12 people.

The federal charge alone could carry a life sentence.

Boulder Police Chief Stephen Stephen Redfearn said on Monday that a weekend terror attack against Jewish activists could’ve been much worse if suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman had been able to purchase a gun.

“I am so grateful that didn’t happen,” Redfearn told CNN. “I can’t imagine how much worse this would be if he was able to do that.”

Officials said earlier on Monday that Soliman attempted to buy a gun before the attack, but that the Egyptian national was unable to because he isn’t a U.S. citizen.

The FBI said Soliman confessed to planning the assault for a year, a plot Redfearn described as a terrorist attack, despite previously stopping short of doing so.

The chief said he initially declined to use that language publicly given the early stage of the investigation, but was now confident the incident was a “targeted terrorist attack.

“This was indeed terrorism and I stand by that,” he added.

Police in Boulder, Colorado have arrested Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, in connection with the attack. The FBI called the attack a “targeted act of violence” and is investigating it as an act of terrorism.

The man allegedly shouted “Free Palestine!” as he used a “makeshift flame thrower” and threw an “incendiary device” into the crowd, the FBI said. Some 16 unused Molotov cocktails were found at the scene.

Eight people were injured in the attack, with one in critical condition. The victims have not been publicly identified.

Here’s everything we know about the attack.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was carrying a garden sprayer filled with gasoline and had reportedly been lurking in the area for at least 20 minutes before allegedly unleashing hell in Boulder on Sunday.

“[Soliman] came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “He must go out under ‘TRUMP’ Policy. Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law.”

In fact, the story of how Soliman came into the country is slightly more complicated than the Egyptian national simply crossing a border.

That status reportedly expired in March of this year, meaning Soliman was no longer in the country legally at the time of the Sunday fire attack.

Still, based on the available information, Soliman wouldn’t have been eligible for deportation yet because of his asylum claim.

“This is a semantics issue at some level,” Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, told The Washington Post. “He didn’t have legal status, but he was not removable because he was an asylum applicant.”