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.

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“The Colorado terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country,” McLaughlin told TIME in a statement.

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. Four additional victims who sustained “more minor” injuries were

identified on Monday after they came forward to be interviewed, according to Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn. 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. He faces

16 counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of use of an incendiary device, and 16 counts of attempted use of an incendiary device, District Attorney Michael Dougherty said

Monday. The Justice Department also charged Soliman with a federal hate crime, according to an affidavit. 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 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.

Read more: The Rise of Antisemitism and Political Violence in the U.S.

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.

This image provided by the Boulder Police Dept. shows Mohamed Sabry Soliman. Boulder Police Dept/AP 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.”

An F.B.I. affidavit said that Soliman confessed to the attack and told police he would do it again. He told investigators that he had researched and planned the attack for more than a year,

according to court documents.

Soliman also told authorities he had previously tried to buy a firearm but could not because he is not a legal citizen, so instead used Molotov cocktails, Acting U.S. Attorney for the

District of Colorado J. Bishop Grewell said Monday.

Sixteen unused Molotov cocktails were found in Soliman's vicinity at the time of his arrest, law enforcement officials said.

President Donald Trump expressed condolences for the victims on Truth Social. “This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals

from our Homeland,” he said in a post, claiming that Soliman “came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy” and that “he must go out under ‘TRUMP’ Policy.”

Read more: Ehud Barak: Israel Must Back Donald Trump’s Deal To End the War in Gaza

Did he act alone? “At this time it appears the perpetrator acted alone,” Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Denver field office, Mark Michalek, said at a Monday afternoon press conference.

But he noted that authorities “do continue to investigate all possibilities and pursue all investigative leads.”

“If we uncover evidence that others knew of this attack or supported the subject in this attack, rest assured that we will aggressively move to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of

the law,” he said.

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.

Soliman made his first appearance in court Monday afternoon. He will be back in court on Thursday for the filing of charges.