Man pleads guilty to federal hate crimes in deadly firebomb attack on Colorado demonstrators

Yelling “Free Palestine,” Soliman lit and threw two Molotov cocktails at the demonstrators who were marching in support of hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

Federal prosecutors accused Soliman of attacking in June 2025 because the demonstrators were Jewish. The flames badly burned Karen Diamond, 82, and injured a dozen others.

Diamond died three weeks later. Her family says she suffered “indescribable pain.”

In all, Soliman pleaded guilty to nine federal counts of hate crimes, including one resulting in Diamond’s death and eight for attempting to kill other demonstrators. Three additional counts were federal explosives charges.

The plea agreement, including Soliman’s proposed sentence, was “victim-driven,” Colorado U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly said in a news conference after the hearing.

He said, “We believe the resolution of this case gives the victims of the case everything that they wanted out of this resolution.”

A group of victims sat stoically in the courtroom, some taking notes as the judge asked Soliman if he understood the proceedings. Several victims intended to make statements at Soliman’s sentencing but declined to do so in court Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Hindman told the court.

Colorado U.S. District Judge John Kane said he would review sentencing guidelines before deciding whether to accept or reject prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation. He noted the guidelines are not binding.

“I have not made up my mind about the sentence,” Kane said. “Sometimes I follow that advice and sometimes I don’t.”

Soliman’s federal sentencing was set for Jan. 7.

Boulder residents, particularly the Jewish community, described being unnerved by the attack in their city northwest of Denver that’s home to the University of Colorado.

The group “Run for Their Lives” had been demonstrating weekly downtown. Soliman got near the demonstration on Pearl Street, a pedestrian mall lined with shops and restaurants, by posing as a gardener.

Federal authorities alleged Soliman planned the attack for a year. After his arrest, Soliman told police he sought “to kill all Zionist people,” a reference to the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel, according to an FBI affidavit.

Federal officials said he was in the U.S. illegally. He entered in 2022 on a tourist visa that expired the following year, then filed for asylum.

He was granted work authorization, but it too expired, federal officials said.

Soliman was living with his wife and their five children in an apartment in Colorado Springs at the time of the attack. He worked a series of low-paying jobs.

The couple divorced in April. Soliman recently dropped his opposition to removing his family from the U.S.

Prosecutors in Soliman’s state case argued he planned for more harm than he carried out. He tried twice to buy a gun and was denied, they said.

He brought 18 Molotov cocktails — bottles filled with flammable liquid that are lit, thrown and burst into flames when they shatter — to the demonstration in a box, but only two were thrown.

Of the 29 attack victims identified by state prosecutors, 13 were physically injured. Prosecutors considered the rest victims because they could have been hurt.

An injured dog led to a state animal cruelty charge.

While in court to plead guilty to the state charges in May, Soliman said he has known and respected Jewish people but questioned the deaths of innocent people in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

“Yes, I am against Israel and I can’t deny that. And that is my right,” Soliman said.

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Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado.

Thomas Peipert And Mead Gruver, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Man pleads guilty to federal hate crimes in deadly firebomb attack on Colorado demonstrators

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