A man with a makeshift flamethrower yelled “Free Palestine” and viciously attacked a group of Israeli hostage supporters during a Colorado solidarity walk Sunday, leaving 8 people injured.
Reports now say the suspect was in the United States illegally after his visa expired in March.
The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was booked into the Boulder County jail north of Denver and expected to face charges in connection with the attack the FBI was investigating as a terrorist act.
We are aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado. Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available. @FBI
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) June 1, 2025
According to Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement sources, Soliman originally entered the country through Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 27, 2022.
Per a Fox News report, Soliman arrived with a non-immigrant visa and was permitted to stay through Feb. 26, 2023. Instead, he outstayed his original visa.
According to reports, after filing a claim, he was cleared for work authorization by US Citizenship and Immigration Services on March 29, 2023. But that second chance only lasted through this March, meaning Soliman has remained in the US illegally for a little over two months.
Soliman’s Los Angeles landing wasn’t his first attempt to enter the country.
In 2005, he was denied a visa, law enforcement officials told CNN.
It is unclear if he tried again before 2022, when he was ultimately approved.
The Department of Homeland Security is working alongside the FBI to investigate the “terrorist attack,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed.
Soliman was arrested and identified as the prime suspect in the brazen attack against a group of people, largely comprised of the elderly, participating in a walk for the Israeli hostages still being held captive by Hamas.
He was allegedly waiting for the group at one of their scheduled stops on the walk.
Pictures showed a shirtless Soliman holding two bottles of clear liquid that were allegedly used as a homemade incendiary device. He also allegedly used a “makeshift flamethrower” to attack the group, officials said.
Eight victims — four men and four women between the ages of 52 and 88 — were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment. At least one person was in critical condition as of Sunday evening.
Soliman was also injured during the attack and treated at a nearby hospital.
“A terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado by an illegal alien. He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit. Suicidal migration must be fully reversed,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller wrote on X.