Mohamed Soliman, a 46-year-old Egyptian immigrant who officials say was living in the U.S. illegally, pleaded guilty to 101 charges with 67 sentence enhancers in Boulder County District Court through an Arabic interpreter. Among the charges were two counts of first-degree murder, 52 counts of attempted first-degree murder and several counts of first-degree assault, court records show.
Soliman has remained in custody on $10 million bail at the Jefferson County jail on a U.S. Marshals hold, according to court and county jail records.
A two-week jury trial set for July has been canceled in light of the plea. Soliman is expected to be sentenced later Thursday.
The charges include two counts of first-degree murder in the death of 82-year-old Karen Diamond, 52 counts of attempted first-degree murder, nine counts of first-degree assault, 18 counts of attempted first-degree assault, two counts of using an explosive or incendiary device while committing a felony, 16 counts of attempt to use an explosive or incendiary device while committing a felony, two counts of third-degree assault and one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty.
Soliman also pleaded guilty to 67 crime of violence sentence enhancers.
Diamond’s sons, Andrew and Ethan Diamond, said in a statement that they hope Soliman stays in prison and away from his family for the rest of his life.
“Our mother suffered indescribable pain for more than three weeks before succumbing to her injuries,” the brothers said in the statement read by Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. “Our children won’t get to receive her wisdom.”
Andrew Chester, a victim of attempted murder during the attack, said he isn’t comfortable going out in public anymore, that he won’t wear his Star of David necklace visibly when going out. Chester said that he is always looking for exits when in places as mundane as the grocery store.
“It is a loss of dignity and a loss of freedom that I once knew,” Chester said, describing the fear he holds while being Jewish in public life since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.
Dougherty asked the court to impose the maximum sentence not just because Soliman killed a man and tried to kill others, he said, but because he showed no remorse. Dougherty called the attack cowardly and described Soliman as a monster.
He also said that the courthouse in Boulder was left with burn scars in the aftermath of the attack. Dougherty showed images of 16 unused Molotov cocktails that Soliman wasn’t able to use, and played audio from Soliman’s interview with police.
“When he talks about setting these people on fire, he doesn’t shed a single tear,” Dougherty said while raising his voice and gesturing to the crowd. He pointed out that Soliman seems to cry while talking about his own life and his family’s life.
Before the hearing started, three Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies walked Soliman to his seat. He wore orange-and-white-striped Boulder County Jail attire, apparently having moved from Jefferson County ahead of Thursday’s hearing.
A courthouse deputy placed tissue boxes at the ends of the aisles, and victims filled several of the courtroom’s pews. Boulder Police Department Chief Stephen Redfearn appeared in the courtroom alongside other officers and victims.
Soliman said little during the first half of the hearing, and fidgeted with his blue pen while writing or drawing on yellow legal paper in front of him. He kept his head down for much of his time, pleading guilty to all charges against him.
Salomone spent the beginning of the hearing making sure Soliman was aware of what was happening, before she went through every individual charge. She named the victims of each charge of murder, attempted murder and assault.
In the aftermath of the firebombing attack, witnesses told police they saw Soliman throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators who gathered on the Pearl Street Mall on June 1, according to an arrest affidavit. The demonstrators, members of Run for Their Lives, had gathered on the popular pedestrian mall for a weekly demonstration urging the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Soliman later told investigators he wanted to take revenge on the demonstrators because he believed they did not care about Palestinian hostages and supported the deaths of Palestinians, according to an affidavit.
He also told police he wanted “to kill all Zionist people,” according to another arrest affidavit.
Soliman initially sought to carry out a mass shooting against the demonstrators, but changed gears because his immigration status prevented him from buying a gun, law enforcement officials said. He had planned the attack for more than a year, settling on Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower made from a weed sprayer as weapons, officials said.
Diamond died on June 25 of third-degree burns she sustained in the attack and related complications, according to the Boulder County Coroner’s Office.
She was among the 29 victims in the Pearl Street firebombing that burned 13 other people and a dog. Some people who were not injured but close to the attack are also counted as victims of attempted murder, according to the DA’s Office.
Department of Homeland Security officials have said Soliman overstayed his tourist visa and remained in the U.S. illegally.
Soliman arrived in the U.S. in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023. He overstayed his visa and sought political asylum in September 2022. He and his family settled in the Colorado Springs area.
Soliman, who was born in Egypt and lived in Kuwait for 17 years before coming to the U.S., got permission to stay in February 2023 while his asylum application was pending, according to court filings. He got a work permit in March 2023.
His now ex-wife, Hayam El Gamal, and the couple’s five children were taken into immigration custody shortly after the Boulder attack. They spent 10 months in a Texas detention facility before they were briefly released in April, then taken back into custody, then released again — all within a four-day span.
El Gamal and Soliman divorced in April.
Soliman’s attack on the Pearl Street Mall shocked his family, who knew nothing of his plans and cooperated with investigators after the attack, according to court filings.
Soliman also faces a dozen federal hate crime charges in the attack. He pleaded not guilty in that case in June, but offered last year to plead guilty to those charges as well. Federal prosecutors have not acted on that offer while they consider pursuing the death penalty, his federal attorneys wrote in a motion to stop the deportation of Soliman’s ex-wife and five children last year.
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This is a developing story.
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