Suspect posed as a gardener in Boulder attack and planned to kill all in group he called ’Zionist’

Man posing as gardener planned to kill group in Boulder with Molotov cocktails, injuring 12, shouting "Free Palestine."

A man posing as a gardener to get close to a group in Boulder holding their weekly demonstration for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza planned to kill them all with Molotov cocktails, authorities said Monday (June 2, 2025).

But he had second thoughts and only threw two out of the 18 incendiary devices he had into the group of about 20 people, yelling “Free Palestine” and accidentally burning himself, police said. Twelve people were injured in the Sunday (June 1, 2025) attack. He had gas in a backpack sprayer but told investigators he didn’t spray it on anyone but himself “because he had planned on dying.”

“He said he had to do it, he should do it, and he would not forgive himself if he did not do it,” police wrote in an affidavit. He didn’t carry out his full plan “because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before.”

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, planned the attack for more than a year and specifically targeted what he described as a “Zionist group,” authorities said in court papers charging him with a federal hate crime. The suspect’s first name also was spelled Mohammed in some court documents.

“When he was interviewed about the attack, he said he wanted them all to die, he had no regrets and he would go back and do it again,” Acting U.S. Attorney J. Bishop Grewell for the District of Colorado said during a press conference Monday.

Federal and State prosecutors filed separate criminal cases against Soliman, charging him with a hate crime and attempted murder, respectively. He faces additional State charges related to the incendiary devices, and more charges are possible in federal court, where the Justice Department will seek a grand jury indictment.

During a State court hearing Monday, Soliman appeared briefly via a video link from the Boulder County Jail wearing an orange jumpsuit. Another court hearing is set for Thursday (June 5, 2025). Soliman is being held on a $10 million, cash-only bond, prosecutors said.