Colorado firebombing suspect pleads guilty to 101 charges, faces life sentence

Mohamed Sabry Soliman pleaded guilty in Boulder County District Court to 101 state charges in the Pearl Street firebombing that killed an 82-year-old woman and injured dozens more, resolving the case with a sentence that will keep him in prison for life without parole.

Judge Nancy W. Salomone read each of the substantive counts in court, and Soliman pleaded guilty to all of them. The charges included first-degree murder, attempted murder, first-degree assault, attempted assault, and possession and attempted possession of incendiary devices. Prosecutors had also filed 68 sentence enhancers tied to crimes of violence. The plea covers the state case that grew out of the June 1, 2025 attack in Boulder, where a crowd had gathered in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Authorities said Soliman threw two Molotov cocktails after arriving with a backpack weed sprayer filled with flammable liquid and a black plastic container holding at least 18 bottles and jars that were used as Molotov cocktails, several with red-rag wicks. Investigators said he had planned the attack for about a year. The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office identified more than 20 victims, and about half were physically injured. One victim, Karen Diamond, 82, later died from her injuries.

The plea brings a measure of closure to a case that exposed how quickly an ideologically driven attack can turn a public gathering into a mass-casualty scene. Soliman, described by officials as an Egyptian national living in the United States illegally, was accused of targeting the group Run for Their Lives and shouting “Free Palestine” during the assault. Federal hate crime charges are still pending, and prosecutors were weighing whether to seek the death penalty in that case.

The state sentence is significant because it removes any prospect of release in Colorado while leaving the broader federal case unresolved. Soliman’s wife and five children were detained after the attack, and a Texas immigration judge later ordered them released pending future hearings, underscoring how the violence continues to ripple beyond the courtroom. The outcome settles the state prosecution, but the wider security lesson remains stark: a long-planned attack, visible warning signs, and improvised weapons were enough to kill, maim, and traumatize a community in minutes.