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A man who shouted “free Palestine” and used a “makeshift flamethrower” on demonstrators marching in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas was charged Monday with attempted first-degree murder.
The state of Colorado’s charges against Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, of El Paso County, include attempted first-degree murder after deliberation, attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference, first-degree assault, including such against an at-risk victim older than 70, and possession of an incendiary device.
Michael Dougherty, district attorney for the Boulder are, said at a news conference that a forthcoming formal filing of charges will reflect the latest victim count, which rose to 12 on Monday. Authorities initially said eight people were hospitalized with burns and other impacts from the attack.
The U.S. Attorney for Colorado also charged Soliman with one count of a hate crime involving actual or perceived race, religion or national origin.
An attorney representing Soliman in the state case did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night. It’s not clear if he has a lawyer specifically for his federal case, but the Office of the Federal Public Defender says it does not comment on its cases.
Jail records show Soliman’s bail, initially set at $10 million, was sustained by district court Judge Nancy W. Salomone during an afternoon court hearing in Boulder.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said Soliman was in the country illegally and labeled the incident a “terror attack.”
“He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa,” Miller said in a post on X. “In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit.”
Miller ended his post by saying: “Suicidal migration must be fully reversed.”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, whose mother was born in a concentration camp and whose grandparents survived the Holocaust, said the attack appeared to be “a hate crime given the group that was targeted.” Weiser said his office was ready to support local prosecutors when the time comes to file any possible charges.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Sunday night statement on X that the bureau was already investigating a “targeted terror attack.”
A Boulder Police spokesperson said Sunday night that four men and four women were injured, between 52 and 88 years old.
They were at or near a weekly demonstration to support awareness of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas militants, officials said.
Soliman was taken into custody at the scene, Mark Michalek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver office, said at a news conference Sunday evening. The assault was being investigated as an act of terrorism, he said.
The group Run for Their Lives — Boulder has been holding the demonstrations fairly regularly, sometimes weekly, following the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct.7, 2023, the group has said.
More than 250 hostages were taken during the attack. Following multiple waves of releases and several deaths, 23 are believed to still be alive.
Redfearn described what dispatchers were told about Sunday’s attack in front of the historic Boulder County Courthouse at 1:26 p.m.: “There was a man with a weapon and … people were being set on fire.”
Two senior law enforcement officials stressed that the investigation is in its early stages. They said Soliman is an Egyptian national who seemingly acted alone. They said he has no previous significant contact with law enforcement.
An initial review of Soliman’s possible social media accounts has not answered questions about a motive or point to any particular ideology, the two senior law enforcement officials said.
The officials said they are looking into eyewitness reports saying the attacker dressed as a landscaper or otherwise donned workmen’s clothing to blend in before the attack.
Redfearn said Soliman suffered minor injuries that required hospitalization upon arrest.
He added that it’s too early to say whether the group supporting the release of hostages was specifically targeted. “It’s way too early to speculate motive,” he said.
Run for Their Lives said in a media kit that it “started for the sole reason of advocating for the release of the hostages. … We set our principles very specifically to be a safe, quiet, peaceful, inclusive of all religions, non-political global initiative.”
Group members in Boulder did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday.
Brooke Coffman was walking down Pearl Street on her lunch break Sunday when she saw a commotion near the courthouse. Worried someone was “getting beat up,” she approached the area.
Then, “I saw this big fire go up,” Coffman told NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver.
Coffman said she called 911 as she rushed toward the fiery scene.
She said she saw two women “rolling around a little bit” in their underwear after having stripped out of their burning clothes with “really bad burns all up on their legs.” Another woman nearby, also with burns on her legs, was screaming.
Coffman could barely make out the face of one of the women, she said, choking up, adding the woman’s hair was burned off.
“It just wasn’t a good scene,” Coffman said.
Others nearby rushed to the scene with jugs of water, dousing the victims, Coffman said. She said that she saw at least seven people down, mostly older women, but that she heard there were more victims, including children.
She said she saw a shirtless man, presumably the suspect, screaming while he waved a glass bottle that contained a liquid.
Social media video of the immediate aftermath of the attack, including the police response, shows a man without a shirt holding what appears to be a clear bottle with a white top in each hand, shouting, standing away from people and shaking the bottles as he paced.
A joint statement from multiple Boulder Jewish organizations and congregations noted that the Jewish community has experienced similar events in recent memory.
“When events like this enter our own community, we are shaken,” the organizations said. “Our hope is that we come together for one another.”
“Our hearts go out to those who witnessed this horrible attack, and prayers for a speedy recovery to those who were injured,” the statement read.
Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
Rebecca Cohen is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
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