The man who killed one person and injured more than a dozen others in a deadly firebomb attack on a Colorado rallyin support of Israeli hostages pleaded guilty to 12 federal charges including hate crimes on Oct. 29, according to multiple reports.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 46, previously asked for the death penalty, but federal prosecutors are seeking a life sentence plus 50 years in prison, The Associated Press and The Colorado Sun reported. His federal sentencing is set for Jan. 7, the outlets reported.
Soliman's change of plea in federal court comes after he pleaded guilty to more than 100 state charges including murder and attempted murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in May. At his state sentencing he spoke
in court through an Arabic interpreter to plead guilty to all the charges read aloud by the judge, ask for forgiveness and deny some of the accusations against him, including that he is antisemitic.
"I wish that this state offered the death penalty but given that this state does not carry the death penalty, but rather it could be a possibility in my federal case, I ask the prosecution from the federal case to impose death penalty cause I find that to be the justice for Mrs. Diamond," he said.
Police have said Soliman, an Uber driver, used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to attack people on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall, many of them participants in a weekly Run for Their Lives march to raise awareness of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023. More than a dozen people were injured in the June 1, 2025, violence, and Karen Diamond, 82, later died of her injuries.
In arrest and court documents, police and prosecutors said Soliman plotted the attack for months, deliberately targeting the march because he felt it would hurt "Zionist" participants. Soliman, police said, dressed like a gardener to avoid rousing suspicion as he approached the group.
Investigators said Soliman told them that as part of his planning he took a class in concealed weapons to learn how to fire a gun but discovered his immigration status prevented him from buying one. Without a gun, Soliman told investigators, he turned to gasoline and glass bottles, along with a backpack sprayer often used by landscapers to dispense pesticide or fertilizer.
Federal officials have said Soliman entered the United States in late 2022 on a tourist visa, and later requested asylum.
He, his now ex-wife and their children lived in Colorado Springs, a more conservative city about 100 miles south of Boulder. Soliman is a native Egyptian who lived in Kuwait with his family for more than 10 years.
Federal immigration officials tried to deport Soliman's family in the aftermath of the attack. A judge halted that effort, ruling the family couldn't be immediately deported because of their pending asylum claim. Soliman withdrew motions related to requests to block the removal of his family prior to changing his federal plea, according to court records.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man pleads guilty to federal charges in deadly Colorado firebombing
