Latest news with #RunforTheirLives
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Hate crime case against Boulder suspect can go forward, judge rules
Soliman faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if he's found guilty of the federal hate crime charges against him. The native of Egypt has also been charged in state court with 118 criminal counts, including attempted murder and other offenses. He sat expressionless in federal court in Denver. A city rattled: Divisions deepen in wealthy, liberal Boulder after antisemitic attack What happened in the attack in Boulder? Soliman is accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails and using a makeshift flamethrower to target Run for Their Lives, a group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and held in Gaza for more than 20 months. The attack in Boulder came less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy staff members were brazenly shot to death in Washington, D.C., amid a rise in antisemitism incidents across the U.S. and as tensions have escalated over Israel's war in Gaza, prompted by a brutal Hamas-led assault on Israeli border communities Oct. 7, 2023. What do authorities say was the suspect's motive? Soliman said "he wanted them to all die . . . He said he would go back and do it again and had no regret doing what he did," Boulder Detective John Sailer wrote in court papers of the attack on the gathering at a Boulder pedestrian mall. Soliman said that, to him, anyone who supported the existence of Israel on "our land" is a Zionist. He defined "our land" as Palestine, court documents said. Soliman allegedly hurled two of the 18 Molotov cocktails he'd brought with him, authorities said, yelling "Free Palestine." A federal affidavit charging Soliman with a hate crime and attempted murder says he learned about the march from an online search. He said he waited for his daughter to graduate from high school before executing the plot, according to the affidavit. He hoped to use a gun and had taken shooting classes, but his immigration status prevented him from purchasing a firearm, the affidavit says. What is happening in the immigration case In her first public statement, Soliman's wife, Hayam El Gamal, who along with her five children is being held at a family detention facility in south Texas, that they are "in total shock'' over her husband's alleged June 1 attack. El Gamal and the children, now ages 4 to 18, were arrested by immigration agents June 3, and the White House said they would be subjected to expedited deportation. But a federal judge in Denver blocked that move the next day, saying they were entitled to due process. By then the family had been transferred to the detention facility in Texas, where the case will be heard. "We are grieving, and we are suffering,'' El Gamal said in social media remarks posted Wednesday. "We are treated like animals by the officers, who told us we are being punished for what my husband is accused of doing.'' El Gamal said the family has been cooperating with authorities, and she expressed concern for both the victims of the attack and her children's wellbeing amid the anguish of their ordeal. El Gamal made the comments through Eric Lee, the lawyer representing her and the children, who posted them to his X account. Lee added that a federal judge on Wednesday extended a temporary restraining order keeping the Trump administration from deporting the family, who came to the U.S. from Kuwait in 2022 and sought asylum. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. What is the group Run for Their Lives? The national Run for Their Lives organization has sponsored walks and runs in hundreds of cities since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel, the deadliest on Jews since the Holocaust, as about 1,200 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage by Hamas. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed since the onset of the war, which Israel launched in response to the attack. Contributing: Phaedra Trethan, Michael Loria, Trevor Hughes
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
Hate crime case against Boulder suspect can go forward, judge rules
Hate crime case against Boulder suspect can go forward, judge rules Mohamed Soliman is accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails at a group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Show Caption Hide Caption Authorities charged alleged Boulder attacker with attempted murder Authorities formally charged Mohamed Sabry Soliman with 118 criminal counts including dozens of attempted murder charges. A federal judge ruled Wednesday there is sufficient evidence to proceed with a hate crime case against a man accused of injuring more than a dozen people after lobbing Molotov cocktails at people in Boulder, Colorado who were supporting Israeli hostages in Gaza. Fifteen people ages 52 to 88 were injured with burns ranging from serious to minor when Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, allegedly launched the attack, authorities say. He lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, after coming to the U.S. on a tourist visa in late 2022 and staying after it expired. Soliman faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if he's found guilty of the federal hate crime charges against him. The native of Egypt has also been charged in state court with 118 criminal counts, including attempted murder and other offenses. He sat expressionless in federal court in Denver. A city rattled: Divisions deepen in wealthy, liberal Boulder after antisemitic attack What happened in the attack in Boulder? Soliman is accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails and using a makeshift flamethrower to target Run for Their Lives, a group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and held in Gaza for more than 20 months. The attack in Boulder came less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy staff members were brazenly shot to death in Washington, D.C., amid a rise in antisemitism incidents across the U.S. and as tensions have escalated over Israel's war in Gaza, prompted by a brutal Hamas-led assault on Israeli border communities Oct. 7, 2023. What do authorities say was the suspect's motive? Soliman said "he wanted them to all die . . . He said he would go back and do it again and had no regret doing what he did," Boulder Detective John Sailer wrote in court papers of the attack on the gathering at a Boulder pedestrian mall. Soliman said that, to him, anyone who supported the existence of Israel on "our land" is a Zionist. He defined "our land" as Palestine, court documents said. Soliman allegedly hurled two of the 18 Molotov cocktails he'd brought with him, authorities said, yelling "Free Palestine." A federal affidavit charging Soliman with a hate crime and attempted murder says he learned about the march from an online search. He said he waited for his daughter to graduate from high school before executing the plot, according to the affidavit. He hoped to use a gun and had taken shooting classes, but his immigration status prevented him from purchasing a firearm, the affidavit says. What is happening in the immigration case In her first public statement, Soliman's wife, Hayam El Gamal, who along with her five children is being held at a family detention facility in south Texas, said they are "in total shock'' over her husband's alleged June 1 attack. El Gamal and the children, now ages 4 to 18, were arrested by immigration agents June 3, and the White House said they would be subjected to expedited deportation. But a federal judge in Denver blocked that move the next day, saying they were entitled to due process. By then the family had been transferred to the detention facility in Texas, where the case will be heard. 'We are grieving, and we are suffering,'' El Gamal said in social media remarks posted Wednesday. "We are treated like animals by the officers, who told us we are being punished for what my husband is accused of doing.'' El Gamal said the family has been cooperating with authorities, and she expressed concern for both the victims of the attack and her children's wellbeing. El Gamal made the comments through Eric Lee, the lawyer representing her and the children, who posted them to his X account. Lee added that a federal judge on Wednesday extended a temporary restraining order keeping the Trump administration from deporting the family, who came to the U.S. from Kuwait in 2022 and sought asylum. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. What is the group Run for Their Lives? The national Run for Their Lives organization has sponsored walks and runs in hundreds of cities since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel, the deadliest on Jews since the Holocaust, as about 1,200 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage by Hamas. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed since the onset of the war, which Israel launched in response to the attack. Contributing: Phaedra Trethan, Michael Loria, Trevor Hughes
Axios
2 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Federal hate crime charge against Boulder Molotov suspect advances
A federal judge in Denver ruled Wednesday that there's probable cause to proceed with a hate crime charge against the man accused of hurling Molotov cocktails at a gathering of people in Boulder earlier this month while shouting "Free Palestine." Why it matters: If the hate crime charge holds, Mohamed Sabry Soliman could face life in prison. The suspect is also charged with 118 counts in Colorado state court — including 28 counts of attempted first-degree murder — and remains jailed on a $10 million bond. The big picture: After the attack, Soliman told investigators he wanted to "kill all Zionist people." Now, the case hinges on whether Zionism qualifies as a national origin under federal law — qualifying it as a hate crime — or is deemed a political ideology. The outcome could set a new legal precedent and reverberate far beyond Colorado. Context: Zionism is often defined as a nationalist movement that supports the establishment and preservation of a Jewish state in the historical land of Israel. What they're saying: "The big debate is whether Mr. Soliman was motivated by [protesters'] national origin," Magistrate Judge Kathryn A. Starnella said during the roughly 2.5-hour hearing. "Ultimately, it's for a jury to decide," she said, but "there's probable cause for this case to proceed." State of play: At Wednesday's hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Hindman argued that Soliman's attack met the legal threshold for a hate crime because it was motivated by his perception of the victims' national origin — not just their politics. She said Soliman specifically targeted Zionists, whom he defined to federal investigators as people who support the existence of Israel and occupy what he considers Palestinian land. Hindman pointed to Soliman's own words to FBI agents: That he identified the Boulder group — Run for Their Lives — by the Israeli flags they carried and expressed no remorse, telling investigators it was "his dream to kill them all." One of the victims was a child in a wheelchair waving an Israeli flag and wearing a yarmulke, a federal investigator confirmed during Wednesday's proceedings. Other victims suffered burns on up to 60% of their bodies, and some remain hospitalized. The other side: Defense attorney David Kraut argued the case hinges on political ideology. The national origin of the victims "did not matter" to Soliman, Kraut said, accusing prosecutors of trying to "inject ambiguity" into federal hate crime law. Kraut noted Soliman repeatedly distinguished between Jewish people and Zionists and did not express animus toward Jews as a religious group. "The evidence is so clear" Soliman was "motivated by political viewpoints," not national origin, his attorney argued. Between the lines: In court, Soliman appeared alert and calm. The burns on his face — self-inflicted when he set himself on fire during the attack — appeared to have healed. He smiled when talking with his attorneys, but did not take the stand.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Suspect in Boulder firebombing attack to appear in federal court
Suspect in Boulder firebombing attack to appear in federal court Mohamed Soliman is accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails at a group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Show Caption Hide Caption Authorities charged alleged Boulder attacker with attempted murder Authorities formally charged Mohamed Sabry Soliman with 118 criminal counts including dozens of attempted murder charges. The man accused of using incendiary devices in an attack on a peaceful gathering in Boulder, Colorado, to support Israeli hostages in Gaza was scheduled to appear Wednesday in federal court in Denver. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces a hate crime charge in the June 1 assault that investigators say he plotted for a year. Soliman, an Egyptian native who has been held on a $10 million bond, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if he's found guilty of the federal hate crime charges against him. He has also been charged in state court with 118 criminal counts, including attempted murder and other offenses. Those charges could add up to over 672 years in prison, according to Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. The Trump administration detained Soliman's wife, Hayam El Gamal, and five children on immigration charges and said they would be subjected to expedited deportation, posting on social media June 3, 'THEY COULD BE DEPORTED AS EARLY AS TONIGHT.' But a federal judge in Denver blocked that move the next day, saying they were entitled to due process. By then the family had been transferred to a detention facility in Texas, where the case will be heard. The attack in Boulder came less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy staff members were brazenly shot to death in Washington, D.C., amid a rise in antisemitism incidents across the U.S. and as tensions have escalated over Israel's war in Gaza, prompted by a brutal Hamas-led assault on Israeli border communities Oct. 7, 2023. A city rattled: Divisions deepen in wealthy, liberal Boulder after antisemitic attack What happened in the attack in Boulder? Soliman is accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails and using a makeshift flamethrower to target Run for Their Lives, a group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for more than 20 months. Fifteen people ages 52 to 88 were injured with burns ranging from serious to minor when Soliman launched his attack, authorities say. He lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, after coming to the U.S. on a tourist visa in late 2022 and staying after it expired. What do authorities say was the suspect's motive? Soliman said "he wanted them to all die . . . He said he would go back and do it again and had no regret doing what he did," Boulder Detective John Sailer wrote in court papers of the attack on the gathering at a Boulder pedestrian mall. Soliman said that, to him, anyone who supported the existence of Israel on "our land" is a Zionist. He defined "our land" as Palestine, court documents said. Soliman hurled two of the 18 Molotov cocktails he'd brought with him, authorities said, yelling "Free Palestine." A federal affidavit charging Soliman with a hate crime and attempted murder says he learned about the march from an online search. He said he waited for his daughter to graduate from high school before executing the plot, according to the affidavit. He hoped to use a gun and had taken shooting classes, but his immigration status prevented him from purchasing a firearm, the affidavit says. What is the group Run for Their Lives? The national Run for Their Lives organization has sponsored walks and runs in hundreds of cities since Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, as about 1,200 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed since the onset of the war, which Israel launched in response to the border attacks. Contributing: Phaedra Trethan, Michael Loria, Trevor Hughes
The Citizen
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Jewish communities face global wave of hate and fear
Targeting synagogues, Jewish schools and individuals is not political protest – it's hate, intimidation and a threat to democracy. Run for Their Lives hosts a march in honor of people kidnapped in Gaza on June 8, 2025 in Boulder, Colorado. On June 1, suspect Mohamed Soliman allegedly threw incendiary devices at a group participating in an organized walk to show solidarity with hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Soliman was charged with 118 counts, including 28 counts of attempted murder./AFP (Photo by Chet Strange / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP) Jewish communities around the world are being subjected to hate and violence. The murder of two Israeli embassy staffers on 21 May outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, was followed by Jews in Colorado being attacked with a flame-thrower and Molotov cocktails, and a rabbi being brutally assaulted in Paris. Since Hamas' attack on Israeli civilians on 7 October, 2023, global Jewry have faced a surge of anti-Semitic hostility. Synagogues, cultural centres and schools have been targeted with protests, fire-bombings and threats. Swastikas and hateful graffiti have defaced their walls, while violent assaults and terror attacks have instilled fear. These acts of violence against Jewish gatherings and buildings are not mere political statements; they are deliberate anti-Semitic hate crimes aimed at terrorising and marginalising Jewish communities. ALSO READ: ANC is airbrushing Jews out of our rainbow nation with exclusion from events Such acts do nothing to resolve the Israel-Hamas conflict but, instead, make global Jewry feel alienated and threatened. In South Africa, we witnessed an increase of 630% in anti-Semitic incidents in the months that followed 7 October. When a pipe bomb was thrown over the wall at the Jewish community centre in Cape Town in December, it was clearly an attack on Cape Town's Jewish community. When a man was assaulted outside a synagogue in Johannesburg it was an act of anti-Semitism targeting non-political venues to stigmatise and intimidate. SA Jewry has experienced relentless and continuous intimidation and threats. Jewish businesses have been targeted, with business owners being doxed on social media, protests outside their premises and calls for boycotts. ALSO READ: Anti-Semitism skyrockets with violent assaults, including against a rabbi and school Prior to Passover, pressure was exerted on a retailer selling foods for the festival to remove the Stars of David, the symbol of the Jewish people, or face their wrath. Anti-Israel protesters outside Jewish community centres in Cape Town and Johannesburg have harassed members, resulting in criminal charges being laid. This campaign to silence any views other than those put forward by the anti-Israel groups have seen politicians physically threatened for visiting Israel and thugs attempting to stop an Israeli pianist from playing in Johannesburg. This intimidation is to try and bully fellow South Africans to subscribe to their narrative or be subjected to their aggression. While the spike in incidents that followed 7 October has reduced significantly, SA Jewry remains vigilant against attacks and threats on our community. ALSO READ: The government lacks real empathy or humanity for Jews Working closely with the authorities, we ensure that all incidents are responded to and where necessary legal action is initiated. In the past two years, seven Equality Court cases, eight criminal cases and a matter with the Human Rights Commission have been lodged. SA Jewry have the constitutional right to associate freely, visit any country, shop, attend concerts and theatres and celebrate our festivals in peace. It is time for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions bullies and the anti-Israel zealots to respect our right to peace and safety in our country. South African Jewry will not be intimidated.
