By COLLEEN SLEVIN, JESSE BEDAYN and REBECCA SANTANA
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A federal decide issued an order Wednesday to forestall the deportation of the spouse and 5 youngsters of an Egyptian man charged in the firebombing assault in Boulder, Colorado.
U.S. District Decide Gordon P. Gallagher granted a request from the household of Mohamed Sabry Soliman to halt deportation proceedings of his spouse and 5 youngsters who had been taken into federal custody Tuesday by U.S. immigration officers.
The relations haven’t been charged within the assault on a bunch demonstrating for the launch of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Soliman faces federal hate crime costs and state costs of tried homicide within the Sunday assault in downtown Boulder.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem stated Wednesday that they’re being processed for elimination proceedings. It’s uncommon that relations of an individual accused of against the law are detained and threatened with deportation.
Soliman’s spouse, 18-year-old daughter, two minor sons and two minor daughters all are Egyptian residents, the Division of Homeland Safety stated in an announcement.
“We’re investigating to what extent his household knew about this heinous assault, if that they had information of it, or in the event that they offered assist to it,” Noem stated in an announcement.
Noem additionally stated federal authorities will instantly crack down on individuals who overstay their visas in response to the Boulder assault.
Soliman instructed authorities that nobody, together with his household, knew about his deliberate assault, in response to court docket paperwork that, at instances, spelled his identify as “Mohammed.”
Earlier Wednesday, authorities raised the variety of victims within the assault from 12 to fifteen, plus a canine.
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The flag of Israel tops a makeshift memorial for victims of an assault exterior of the Boulder County, Colo., courthouse as a light-weight rain falls Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photograph/David Zalubowski)
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The flag of Israel tops a makeshift memorial for victims of an assault exterior of the Boulder County, Colo., courthouse as a light-weight rain falls Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photograph/David Zalubowski)
Boulder County officers who offered the replace stated in a information launch that the victims embrace eight ladies and 7 males ranging in age from 25 to 88. The Related Press on Wednesday despatched an e mail to prosecutors searching for extra particulars on the newly recognized victims and the canine.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, had deliberate to kill the entire roughly 20 members in Sunday’s demonstration on the widespread Pearl Road pedestrian mall, however he threw simply two of his 18 Molotov cocktails whereas yelling “Free Palestine,” police stated. Soliman, an Egyptian man who federal authorities say has been residing within the U.S. illegally, didn’t perform his full plan “as a result of he obtained scared and had by no means harm anybody earlier than,” police wrote in an affidavit.
Based on an FBI affidavit, Soliman instructed police he was pushed by a want “to kill all Zionist folks” — a reference to the motion to determine and shield a Jewish state in Israel. Authorities stated he expressed no regret concerning the assault.
A vigil is scheduled for Wednesday night on the native Jewish neighborhood middle.
Defendant’s immigration standing
Soliman was born in el-Motamedia, an Egyptian farming village within the Nile Delta province of Gharbia, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cairo, in response to an Egyptian safety official who spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of he wasn’t licensed to speak to the media.
Earlier than transferring to Colorado Springs three years in the past, Soliman spent 17 years in Kuwait, in response to court docket paperwork.
Soliman arrived within the U.S. in August 2022 on a vacationer visa that expired in February 2023, Division of Homeland Safety Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated in a publish on X. She stated Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a piece authorization in March 2023, however that has additionally expired.
Lots of of 1000’s of individuals overstay their visas every year in the US, in response to Division of Homeland Safety studies.
The case towards Soliman
Soliman instructed authorities that he had been planning the assault for a yr and was ready for his daughter to graduate earlier than carrying it out, the affidavit stated.
A newspaper in Colorado Springs that profiled one in all Soliman’s youngsters in April famous the household’s journey from Egypt to Kuwait after which to the U.S. It stated after initially struggling at school, his daughter landed tutorial honors and volunteered at a neighborhood hospital.
Soliman has been charged with a federal hate crime in addition to tried homicide counts on the state stage, however authorities say further costs may come. He’s being held in a county jail on a $10 million money bond and is scheduled to make an look in state court docket on Thursday.
His lawyer, Kathryn Herold, declined to remark after a state court docket listening to Monday. Public defenders’ coverage prohibits chatting with the media.
Witnesses and police have stated Soliman set himself on fireplace as he hurled the second incendiary system. Authorities stated they consider Soliman acted alone. Though they didn’t elaborate on the character of his accidents, a reserving picture confirmed him with a big bandage over one ear.
The assault unfolded towards the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas battle, which has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the US. It occurred in the beginning of the Jewish vacation of Shavuot and barely every week after a person who additionally yelled “Free Palestine” was charged with fatally capturing two Israeli Embassy staffers exterior a Jewish museum in Washington.
Six victims hospitalized
The victims ranged in age from 25 to 88, and had been members of the volunteer group known as Run For Their Lives who had been holding their weekly demonstration.
No new particulars had been launched Wednesday about three victims who had been despatched to the UCHealth College of Colorado Hospital on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.
“They’ve requested privateness to heal,” spokesperson Kelli Christensen stated in an e mail.
One of many victims was a toddler when her household fled the Nazis throughout the Holocaust, stated Ginger Delgado of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Workplace. Delgado is appearing as a spokesperson for the household of the lady, who doesn’t need her identify used.
Related Press reporters Eric Tucker in Washington, Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma Metropolis and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
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