Mohamed Soliman is already serving life in prison after pleading guilty to state charges last spring. Federal prosecutors, who previously said they would not seek the death penalty against Soliman, said at his change-of-plea hearing they would seek a life term plus 50 years in prison for the dozen counts.
Yelling “Free Palestine,” Soliman lit and threw two Molotov cocktails at the Jewish 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 weapon charges.
“The defendant violently used the explosives to cause permanent and life-threatening injuries to several of these victims and cause the death of Karen Diamond,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Hindman said in court shortly before Soliman pleaded guilty.
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.
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.
