Add Wyoming’s congressional delegation to the outraged voices asking how an Egyptian national in the United States illegally could pull off a targeted attack on Americans with a homemade flamethrower and Molotov cocktails.
“This was a targeted act of terror, plain and simple,” said Republican U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman referencing Sunday afternoon’s attack on a peaceful group of protesters in downtown Boulder, Colorado.
Mohamed Soliman, 45, is being held on a $10 million cash-only bond after allegedly yelling “free Palestine” while lobbing Molotov cocktails and burning 12 people in a crowd that had gathered to raise awareness of Israeli hostages in Gaza, said Mark Michalek, special agent in charge of the Denver FBI office.
Calling Soliman’s actions a “senseless, unjustified and horrific mass attack” during a Monday afternoon press conference in Boulder, Michalek revealed that another 16 unused Molotov cocktails were recovered at the scene.
He also spelled out the charges Soliman faces, which includes 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 16 counts of attempted use of an incendiary device and another two of using one. Altogether, he could get a maximum of 588 years in prison on the state charges.
He’s also been hit with a federal charge of commission of a hate crime, said J. Bishop Grewell, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado. He said more federal charges could come in the future.
When caught, Soliman admitted to the attack, Grewell said at the press conference.
“Mr. Soliman stated that he had been planning this attack for a year,” Grewell said, adding that he also expressed a hatred for “Zionist” groups.
Failed Policy
That Soliman was in Boulder for his attempt to burn people to death is a horrific example of former President Joe Biden’s disastrous immigration policy, Hageman said.
“The fact that the suspect was in this country illegally after overstaying a B2 nonimmigrant visa — issued under the Biden administration — is unacceptable,” she said in a statement to Cowboy State Daily. “This attack is a direct consequence of failed immigration enforcement and open-border policies that put American lives at risk.”
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis said on X that the attack is one of “the consequences of Biden’s open borders — this is what we are talking about. Innocent Americans are being killed & hurt by illegal aliens (because) Biden & Democrats opened our border to people who hate our country.”
In a statement to Cowboy State Daily on Monday, Lummis doubled down on the need to tighten immigration policy.
“We must be clear-eyed about what happened here and commit to rooting out this evil from our country,” she said. “An illegal alien terrorist shouting ‘Free Palestine,’ who was let into America by the Biden Administration, attempted to kill peaceful Jewish Americans, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor.”
President Donald Trump also singled out “Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly,” in a post to Truth Social. “This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport illegal, anti-American Radicals from our Homeland.”
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, the second highest ranking Republican in the Senate, said border security has to be a top priority.
“America needs secure borders," he said in a statement to Cowoby State Daily. "The antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder is a sad reminder of the consequences of open border policies. Senate Republicans are focused on making our communities safer and deporting criminal illegal immigrants.”
‘Would Do It Again’
Asked why Soliman also hasn’t been charged as a terrorist, Grewell said that could still happen. The charges he’s been hit with now are an immediate response to the attack.
He also gave some insight into what authorities have learned so far in the 24 hours since the assault.
Soliman used his flamethrower and tossed Molotov cocktails into the crowd, “burning them as they peacefully walked on a Sunday to draw attention to Israeli hostages,” Grewell said. “He said he wanted them to die, he had no regrets and would do it again.”
Grewell also said Soliman chose to burn his intended victims because he’s not a legal U.S. citizen and couldn’t buy a gun. He instead made the Molotov cocktails and the flamethrower, which was fueled with a backpack filled with flammable fluid.
Nobody died, however, and as of Monday afternoon only two of the 12 people known to be hurt remain hospitalized, said Boulder Police Department Chief Stephen Redfearn.
Officials also searched Soliman’s home in Colorado Springs, Michalek said, where “evidence was recovered, including digital evidence.”
The FBI director and BPD chief both said Soliman hadn’t been on their radar as a potential threat before Sunday’s attack.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.