Man to plead guilty in Colorado firebombing attack on pro-Israel demonstrators

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — A man accused of killing one person and injuring a dozen more in a firebomb attack on Colorado demonstrators showing support for Israeli hostages in Gaza plans to plead guilty this week, according to court documents.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole if a state judge accepts his guilty plea in the June 1 attack in downtown Boulder, according to the documents filed by his attorneys on Sunday in a related federal case.

Soliman had previously pleaded not guilty after he was accused of throwing two Molotov cocktails during the demonstration at a pedestrian mall. An 82-year-old woman who was injured in the attack later died. A dozen others were also injured.

Soliman is an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the U.S. illegally. Investigators say he planned the attack for a year and was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people.”

Soliman faces dozens of state charges including murder and attempted murder.

He has pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges. Prosecutors are considering whether to seek the death sentence in that case, according to his attorneys. Soliman’s attorneys said he offered last August to plead guilty in that case and would accept a sentence of life in prison.

The Associated Press left voicemail messages for Soliman’s attorneys in both cases.

Shannon Carbone with the 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the state case, declined to comment on Soliman’s intention to plead guilty Thursday, citing public comment restrictions imposed on prosecutors. She said County Attorney Michael Dougherty will address the case following Thursday’s hearing.

Investigators say Soliman told them he intended to kill the roughly 20 participants at the weekly demonstration at Boulder’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall. But he threw just two of more than two dozen Molotov cocktails he had with him while yelling, “Free Palestine!” Police said he told them he got scared because he had never hurt anyone before.

Federal prosecutors allege the victims were targeted because of their perceived or actual connection to Israel. But Soliman’s federal defense lawyers say he should not have been charged with hate crimes because the evidence shows he was motivated by opposition to Zionism, the political movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel.

An attack motivated by someone’s political views is not considered a hate crime under federal law.

State prosecutors have identified 29 victims in the attack. Thirteen were physically injured, and the others were nearby and are considered victims because they could have been hurt. A dog was also injured in the attack, and Soliman has been charged with animal cruelty.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.