Who Is the Suspect in the Colorado Attack?

The suspect in the Boulder, Colo. attack on demonstrators rallying in support of Israeli hostages is an Egyptian citizen who had overstayed a tourist visa and was living illegally in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday.

Federal and local authorities are investigating Sunday’s incident as an act of terrorism. 

The suspect, identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, entered the U.S. in August 2022 and remained after his visa expired in February 2023, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokeswoman. She said that Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022, but did not share details about the status of his claim. “The Colorado terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country,” McLaughlin wrote in a social media post.

Soliman was arrested Sunday after authorities said he used a makeshift flamethrower to assault participants in a weekly march called Run for Their Lives, held in downtown Boulder to draw attention to the 58 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas after the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Witnesses said he shouted “Free Palestine” as he threw an incendiary device into the crowd.

At least eight people, ranging from ages 52 to 88, were hospitalized with burns and other injuries, authorities said. Boulder Police said Monday morning that none of the victims have died.

Read more: What We Know About the Victims of the Colorado Attack

Soliman, who was living in Colorado Springs, was also injured and taken to a hospital to be medically evaluated before being booked into the Boulder County Jail on multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder and use of explosives or incendiary devices while committing a felony. He is being held on a $10 million bond.

“The facts we have at this time make it clear that this is a targeted act of violence,” said Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn at a Sunday evening press conference. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement that the attack “appears to be a hate crime given the group that was targeted.”

The incident has stirred anxiety within the Jewish community, which has already been reeling from a series of recent attacks. Two weeks ago, two Israeli Embassy aides were shot and killed outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. And in April, a man set fire to the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish. 

Here’s what to know about Soliman, the suspect in the Boulder attack.

‘Illegal alien’: The Trump Administration

The Trump Administration on Monday said that Soliman entered the U.S. on a B-2 tourist visa, which typically allows stays of up to six months, and remained illegally after it expired in February 2023. He had applied for asylum in September 2022, but his claim may have been delayed amid a court backlog of more than 3.6 million cases.

In a social media post, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called the suspect an “illegal alien” and criticized the Biden Administration for approving his work permit. “Suicidal migration must be fully reversed,” Miller said.

The Department of Homeland Security and the White House did not immediately return a request for comment on the status of his asylum claim.

Little else is publicly known about Soliman’s time in the U.S. or what he was doing in Colorado before the attack.

During the incident, he is heard on video saying “How many children have you killed?” and “We have to end Zionists, they are killers.” One law enforcement official told CNN that following the attack he said, “I did it to avenge my people.”

Did he act alone?

The F.B.I. searched Soliman’s home in Colorado Springs on Sunday after he was identified as the suspect. There was no immediate indication that he was linked to any particular organization or group, authorities said.

Redfearn, the Boulder Police Chief, said at a news conference that they do not believe any additional suspects are at large in connection with the attack. “We are not going to say that with absolute certainty, because we’re still conducting a lot of interviews,” he said, before adding: “We are fairly confident we have the lone suspect in custody.”

Soliman is expected in court Monday afternoon.