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Friday, October 30, 2026

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Courts · Friday, October 30, 2026

Colorado man admits deadly Boulder attack was a hate crime

The File desk · Oct. 30, 2026, 6:37 a.m. ET

Confirmed1 primary sources

Status

Confirmed. The Justice Department said on October 29, 2026, that Mohamed Sabry Soliman pleaded guilty to 12 federal hate-crime charges. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 7, 2027.
  • Confirmed
    Soliman admitted throwing two Molotov cocktails on June 1, 2025, and targeting people because of Israeli national origin and Jewish religion. One person was killed.
  • Confirmed
    The maximums the department lists are not a sentence. A judge has not imposed one.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 46, of Colorado Springs, admitted on Thursday that he threw two lit bottles of fuel into a gathering in Boulder, and that he chose the people there because of their Israeli national origin and their Jewish religion. One person died. Soliman pleaded guilty to 12 federal hate-crime charges.1
The Justice Department said the attack came on June 1, 2025, at a walk by the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives, a group the department describes as one that organized walks to raise awareness for hostages held after the October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel. Soliman admitted the attack killed one person and caused permanent and life-threatening injuries to several others.1
A hate-crime charge, as the department uses it here, means the attacker selected the victims because of religion or national origin. For nine of the charges the maximum is life in prison. For the other three, the maximum is 50 years, to run consecutive to, meaning after, any other term. A judge will decide the sentence at a hearing set for January 7, 2027.1
Why it matters (Estimate). Estimate. People who were at the June 1 walk, and anyone who joins a public gathering like it, now have a date for the sentencing hearing: January 7, 2027. The plea is an admission in federal court, as the Justice Department describes it, not a sentence already imposed. Until a judge acts, the life term and the 50-year term are maximums.
“No one should be subjected to violence because of their religion or national origin,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division. The FBI Denver Field Office and the Boulder Police Department investigated. A sentence has not been imposed.1
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, “Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crimes in Deadly Attack on Boulder, Colorado, Gathering,” Thursday, October 29, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crimes-deadly-attack-boulder-colorado-gathering Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 46, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, pleaded guilty to 12 hate crimes charges for using Molotov cocktails. He admitted that on June 1, 2025, he lit and threw two Molotov cocktails into a gathering of the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives. He admitted he targeted the group because of the victims' actual or perceived Israeli national origin and Jewish religion. The attack killed one person and caused permanent and life-threatening injuries to several others. Harmeet K. Dhillon: “No one should be subjected to violence because of their religion or national origin.” For nine charges, a maximum of life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. For the other three, a maximum of 50 years in prison to run consecutive to any other prison term, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. “A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the and other statutory factors.” Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2027. The FBI Denver Field Office and the Boulder Police Department investigated. Prosecutors named: Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa Basche and Daniel Pastor, and Trial Attorneys Sarah Howard and Khalil Quinan. He has pleaded guilty. A sentence has not been imposed.

What is still unknown or disputed

  • The statute number. The department's release says hate-crime charges and does not, in the text this desk read, cite a section of the U.S. Code.
  • What sentence prosecutors will ask for. The release prints maximums and says a judge will decide after considering the and other statutory factors.
  • The name of the person who was killed. The release says one person was killed and does not print the name.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crimes in Deadly Attack on Boulder, Colorado, Gathering

    U.S. Department of Justice · October 29, 2026

    Mohamed Sabry Soliman pleaded guilty to 12 hate-crime charges. He admitted throwing two Molotov cocktails on June 1, 2025. Sentencing is set for Jan. 7, 2027.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crimes-deadly-attack-boulder-colorado-gathering