Colorado suspect ‘said he wanted to kill all Zionist people’ and ‘planned attack for a year’
The suspect in the Colorado attack told investigators he planned it for a year and said he wanted to “kill all Zionist people”, it is claimed.
Mohamed Soliman is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails and using a makeshift flamethrower on a group of people at a rally in support of Israeli hostages – with the FBI describing the incident as a targeted “act of terrorism”.
The 45-year-old, from El Paso County, Colorado, yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, it is alleged.
Soliman has been charged with the federal crime of causing bodily injury because of actual or perceived race, colour, religion, or national origin. Authorities said they would announce further charges later on Monday.
Four women and four men, aged between 52 and 88, were injured and taken to hospitals. One victim is in a critical condition and others were seriously hurt, authorities said.
Suspect Mohamed Soliman. Pic: Boulder Police Department
In a federal criminal complaint, investigators said Soliman confessed to the attack and told them that he had planned it for a year.
The alleged attacker said he researched on YouTube how to make Molotov cocktails – an improvised bomb made from a bottle filled with petrol and stuffed with a piece of cloth to use as a fuse, it was claimed.
He allegedly made them before driving to Boulder, Colorado, to carry out the attack on the weekly demonstration, where people were calling for release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
Soliman told investigators he “wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead”, and “he would do it (conduct an attack) again”, according to the criminal complaint.
The suspect said he had been planning the attack for a year, and was waiting until after his daughter graduated to carry it out, it was alleged.
Unlit Molotov cocktails found near scene
According to the federal complaint, officers found a black plastic container with a yellow top near where Soliman was arrested, containing “at least 14 unlit Molotov cocktails”.
Investigators said the projectiles were comprised of “glass wine carafe bottles or Ball jars,” and that near the container “was a backpack weed sprayer, potentially containing a flammable substance”.
It was later determined the liquid in both the bottles and weed sprayer was the flammable liquid xylene, the complaint said.
Mark Michalek, a special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office, described the sprayer as a “makeshift flamethrower”.
The suspect was seen clutching two glass bottles
Trump condemns ‘horrific’ attack
Law enforcement officials told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News that Soliman is an Egyptian national who seemingly acted alone. They said he has no previous significant contact with law enforcement.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said Soliman was in the US “illegally”.
She posted on X: “He entered the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired on February 2023. He filed for asylum in September 2022.”
US President Donald Trump said the “horrific” attack in Boulder “will not be tolerated in the United States of America”.
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Police chief Steve Redfearn said the attack happened at around 1.26pm local time on Sunday and initial reports were that “people were being set on fire”.
“When we arrived we encountered multiple victims that were injured, with injuries consistent with burns,” Mr Redfearn said.
The attack happened as a “group of pro-Israel people” were peacefully demonstrating, police said.
The walk is held regularly by a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives, which aims to raise awareness of the hostages who remain in Gaza.
A bomb disposal robot at the scene. Pic: AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was praying for the full recovery of the people wounded in the “vicious terror attack” in Colorado.
“This attack was aimed against peaceful people who wished to express their solidarity with the hostages held by Hamas, simply because they were Jews,” he said.
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US Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a prominent Jewish Democrat, said the attack was “horrifying” and “this cannot continue”, adding: “We must stand up to antisemitism.”
The attack follows the arrest of a Chicago-born man in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington DC two weeks ago.
US
Handwriting expert says ‘Donald Trump signature’ in Epstein birthday book is ‘absolutely’ his – despite his denials
A handwriting expert has said the signature on a controversial birthday message to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein is “absolutely” US President Donald Trump’s.
Graphologist Emma Bache compared the signature with others the president wrote at the time, and told Sky News: “It is very much the signature he had in the 2000s. I can absolutely say it is Donald Trump’s.”
Newly released files handed to the United States Congress appear to contain birthday messages to billionaire paedophile Epstein from both the US president and the current British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson.
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They include a hand-drawing of a woman’s body, signed “Donald”, a picture of Epstein holding an outsized cheque, signed by “DJTRUMP”, and a message appearing to show Lord Mandelson calling Epstein his “best pal”.
Addressing the release of the image in a post on X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.”
Emma Bache said it was ‘almost impossible’ to forge President Trump’s signature
But Ms Bache was unequivocal.
“It’s incredibly distinctive. If we look at the way he has formed the ‘o’ of Donald, it’s actually a circle.
“He also has a very long horizontal stroke at the end of his name – which funnily enough is saying to people ‘keep away’ – and it’s absolutely identical in pressure, in length and formation of about every single stroke (to his current official signature).”
The note released on Monday. Pic: X/OversightDems
She said the capital ‘D’ of his name in the Epstein message, was also very distinctive and exactly the same as another letter written in 1996 and 2000.
The files were handed over following a demand by the Oversight Committee of the US Congress and are from a book compiled by Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, to celebrate his 50th birthday in 2003.
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The White House said the president’s legal team was “aggressively pursuing litigation”.
Ms Bache said she was “not surprised he would deny it”.
She added: “He has an awful lot to lose, but it doesn’t affect my analysis of it.”
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‘You will listen to me – I am right’
After examining a number of his signatures under a microscope, she concluded: “The idea that it could be forged would be almost impossible. I certainly wouldn’t be able to get anywhere close to Donald Trump’s handwriting.
“It’s a very confident, very speedy signature and when you forge something, you do it more slowly.”
She said his modern signature had changed a little but still had clear similarities.
Donald Trump’s signature in more recent times as president
She added: “His modern signature is all angles and in graphology, angles are about energy, aggression, there’s a tension there.
“There’s no softness and his communication style is one of ‘you will listen to me and I am right’.
A letter sent by Trump to radio host Larry King in 1999. Pic: Julien*s auction house
And another in 2006 to lawyer George Conway shows a similar signature. Pic: George Conway/X
Ambassador’s denial
Lord Mandelson has also come under scrutiny for his relationship with Epstein – and the release of the files has compounded the issue.
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Lord Mandelson tells Sky: ‘I wish I’d never met Epstein’
They appear to include a glowing contribution from the Labour grandee, with him calling Epstein his “best pal” and writing of the friend “taking you by surprise… in one of his glorious homes he likes to share with his friends (yum yum)”.
Lord Mandelson’s spokesman said he “very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein”.
Donald Trump’s bid to fire a US central bank rate-setter has suffered a setback after a federal judge blocked the move.
The president revealed last month that he was removing Lisa Cook from her post at the Federal Reserve on alleged mortgage fraud grounds.
The move was widely seen by commentators as a bid to destroy the Fed’s independence through the appointment of a new governor who would support his bid for interest rate cuts to boost the trade war-hit US economy.
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Ms Cook, who denies wrongdoing and any cause to dismiss her, was appointed to the Fed’s board by former US president Joe Biden. The board forms part of the panel that votes on US interest rate decisions.
She secured a preliminary court ruling late on Tuesday which found that the Trump administration’s claims she committed mortgage fraud prior to taking office were likely not sufficient grounds for her removal.
The White House has claimed she inaccurately described three separate properties on mortgage applications, which could have allowed her to obtain lower interest rates and tax credits.
Lisa Cook is the first black woman to serve as a Fed governor. File pic: AP
But US District Judge Jia Cobb said: “President Trump has not identified anything related to Cook’s conduct or job performance as a Board member that would indicate that she is harming the Board or the public interest by executing her duties unfaithfully or ineffectively.”
The ruling, which could yet be appealed, means she can continue in her role while her own lawsuit proceeds.
It could end up in the Supreme Court.
Mr Trump’s demands this year that the Fed cuts rates have so far fallen on deaf ears as the central bank voting has shown too much concern over trade war-linked inflation. Prices have risen as higher import duties have been passed on.
He has repeatedly called for Fed chair Jay Powell to resign but retracted threats to fire him.
The president may actually get his wish for a cut this month amid a deterioration in the employment market – also widely blamed on his trade war – as hiring has slumped.
The central bank, unlike the Bank of England, has a dual mandate to ensure maximum employment as well as keeping inflation in check.
Any rate cut would be unlikely to extinguish the Trump administration’s effort to influence monetary policy.
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The Fed’s ability to set interest rates without regard to politicians’ demands is critical to market confidence, let alone the central bank’s ability to keep inflation under control.
Neither the Fed or the White House commented on the ruling.
Ms Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said: “This ruling recognises and reaffirms the importance of safeguarding the independence of the Federal Reserve from illegal political interference.”
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