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.
Elon Musk has criticised US President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, calling it “outrageous” and a “disgusting abomination”.
The bill, which includes multi-trillion-dollar tax breaks, was passed by the House Republicans in May, and has been described by the president as a “big, beautiful bill”.
The tech billionaire hit out at the tax cuts on his platform X, writing: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore.
“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
Elon Musk left his ‘special government employee’ role last week. Pic: AP.
In American politics, “pork” is a political metaphor used when government spending is allocated to local projects, usually to benefit politicians’ constituencies.
Musk left the administration abruptly last week after working to cut costs with his team, the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency – known as DOGE – with the ambition of sacking federal workers and cutting red tape.
The White House brushed Musk’s comments aside, claiming they did not surprise the president.
In a press conference on Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill”.
She added: “This is one, big, beautiful bill.
“And he’s sticking to it.”
The White House on Tuesday asked Congress to cut back $9.4bn in already approved spending, taking money away from DOGE.
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What did Musk achieve at DOGE?
The billionaire tweeted: “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
He also suggested voting out politicians who advanced the president’s tax bill.
“In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” Musk wrote in another X post.
👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈
How Musk’s mission to cut government spending fell flat
Last Thursday, Musk revealed on X that his scheduled time as a “special government employee” was coming to an end.
Before the news broke, Musk’s father told Sky News his son was “not a very good politician”.
But speaking to Gillian Joseph on The World, Errol Musk insisted there was “no rift between Elon and Donald Trump”.
Musk’s time at DOGE was controversial, with drastic cuts to America’s humanitarian efforts sparking particular criticism.
Questions have also been raised about whether the department has actually saved taxpayers as much money as suggested.
Musk initially had ambitions to slash government spending by $2trn (£1.5trn) – but this was dramatically reduced to $1trn (£750bn) and then to just $150bn (£111bn).
Elon Musk brought his son X Æ A-12 to the Oval Office during a press conference earlier this year. Pic: Reuters.
The 53-year-old, who famously brought his son X Æ A-12 to the Oval Office, also expressed frustration about resistance to his ideas and clashed with other senior members of the Trump administration.
He recently told The Washington Post: “The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realised. I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC to say the least.”
By law, status as a “special government employee” means he could only serve for a maximum of 130 days, which would have ended around 30 May.
Elon Musk has criticised US President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, calling it “outrageous” and a “disgusting abomination”.
The bill, which includes multi-trillion-dollar tax breaks, was passed by the House Republicans in May, and has been described by the president as a “big, beautiful bill”.
The tech billionaire hit out at the tax cuts on his platform X, writing: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore.
“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
Elon Musk left his ‘special government employee’ role last week. Pic: AP.
In American politics, “pork” is a political metaphor used when government spending is allocated to local projects, usually to benefit politicians’ constituencies.
Musk left the administration abruptly last week after working to cut costs with his team, the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency – known as DOGE – with the ambition of sacking federal workers and cutting red tape.
The White House brushed Musk’s comments aside, claiming they did not surprise the president.
In a press conference on Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill”.
She added: “This is one, big, beautiful bill.
“And he’s sticking to it.”
The White House on Tuesday asked Congress to cut back $9.4bn in already approved spending, taking money away from DOGE.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What did Musk achieve at DOGE?
The billionaire tweeted: “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
He also suggested voting out politicians who advanced the president’s tax bill.
“In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” Musk wrote in another X post.
👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈
How Musk’s mission to cut government spending fell flat
Last Thursday, Musk revealed on X that his scheduled time as a “special government employee” was coming to an end.
Before the news broke, Musk’s father told Sky News his son was “not a very good politician”.
But speaking to Gillian Joseph on The World, Errol Musk insisted there was “no rift between Elon and Donald Trump”.
Musk’s time at DOGE was controversial, with drastic cuts to America’s humanitarian efforts sparking particular criticism.
Questions have also been raised about whether the department has actually saved taxpayers as much money as suggested.
Musk initially had ambitions to slash government spending by $2trn (£1.5trn) – but this was dramatically reduced to $1trn (£750bn) and then to just $150bn (£111bn).
Elon Musk brought his son X Æ A-12 to the Oval Office during a press conference earlier this year. Pic: Reuters.
The 53-year-old, who famously brought his son X Æ A-12 to the Oval Office, also expressed frustration about resistance to his ideas and clashed with other senior members of the Trump administration.
He recently told The Washington Post: “The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realised. I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC to say the least.”
By law, status as a “special government employee” means he could only serve for a maximum of 130 days, which would have ended around 30 May.
A manhunt is under way for an ex-soldier suspected of kidnapping and murdering his three daughters in Washington state.
Officers said Travis Decker, 32, has “extensive” military training and could pose a “significant risk” but they aren’t sure if he’s armed.
Police, the FBI and US marshals are all involved, with drones and aircraft deployed to scour remote forested areas.
The alarm was raised on Friday when the girl’s mother reported her daughters – aged nine, eight and five – missing after Decker didn’t return following a planned visit of three hours.
Wenatchee police began the search over the weekend, looking for the white pick-up Decker is believed to live out of.
The truck was found on Monday near a campground west of Leavenworth, about 70 miles east of Seattle, with the girls’ bodies found in “relatively close proximity”, according to police.
Evelyn, Paityn and Olivia Decker attended Lincoln Elementary in Wenatchee school district.
Decker is said to have ‘extensive’ military training. Pic: Wenatchee Police Department
Their mother told police the girls didn’t return as planned at 8pm on Friday and that Travis Decker’s phone went straight to voicemail.
A detective for the Wenatchee force said she “expressed concern because Decker reportedly has never done this before and… is currently experiencing some mental health issues”.
Officials said Decker joined the US Army in 2013 and moved to the Washington National Guard in 2021, becoming part time in the last few years, but stopped attending drills about a year ago.
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The public have been warned to not approach Decker and to call 911 immediately.
Questions are being asked about whether time was wasted in escalating the search after police requested an amber alert from state patrol on Friday night but it didn’t meet the criteria.
It wasn’t until Wenatchee detectives provided extra information on Saturday that an endangered missing person alert was issued.
Washington State Patrol public affairs director Chris Loftis said a parent not returning their child on time was a “rather common occurrence and not something where you just automatically assume abduction”.
“We’re people too, you know, so the loss of a child, the loss of two children, the loss of three children is… devastating,” he said.
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