The FBI has identified the suspect who attacked a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado as Mohamed Sabry Soliman.

Six people aged between 67 and 88 were injured when Solimon, 45, firebombed the demonstration, which was organized to remember the October 7 victims who are still being held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza. 

Boulder Police said the horror unfolded during the event, organized by Run For Their Lives, on Pearl Street Mall in the city’s downtown at around 1.26pm on Sunday, the first day of a Jewish holiday called Shavuot. 

Shocking videos posted online showed Soliman appearing to taunt the victims while brandishing bottles of alcohol for the Molotov cocktails in each hand as smoke rose from the scene.

Wearing only jeans and sunglasses, he yelled: ‘End Zionists… they are terrorists’ and ‘free Palestine’. He also said: ‘How many children have you killed?’ according to the ADL Center on Extremism. 

EMTs used stretchers to move people into ambulances while flames spread in patches across the ground. Blackened burned-out bottles littered the scene. 

Another video showed what looked like a burn scar across the ground close to the city’s old courthouse. 

FBI Director Kash Patel has called the incident a ‘terror attack’ while Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said it ‘appears to be a hate crime given the group that was targeted’.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman (pictured), 45, has been identified as the suspect who attacked a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday

Mohamed Sabry Soliman (pictured), 45, has been identified as the suspect who attacked a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday

Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn told a press conference that victims suffered ‘injuries consistent with burns, and other injuries’ and that wounds ranged from ‘minor’ to ‘potentially life-threatening’.

Law enforcement told NBC just before 8pm that one person was in a critical condition. 

Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office, told another press conference later on Sunday that witnesses said Soliman used ‘a makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd’. 

He was taken into custody ‘without incident,’ Chief Redfearn said.

Soliman, who was wearing sunglasses and jeans with no shirt when he was detained, was also taken to the hospital with ‘minor injuries’. 

Chief Redfearn did not disclose the motivation behind the attack. ‘It would be irresponsible for me to speculate on motive this early on,’ he said. 

Boulder Police were also initially split with the FBI on whether to call the incident a terror attack, with Redfearn saying it was too early to define the incident.   

Soliman appeared to taunt the victims while brandishing bottles of alcohol for the Molotov cocktails in each hand as smoke rose from the scene

Soliman appeared to taunt the victims while brandishing bottles of alcohol for the Molotov cocktails in each hand as smoke rose from the scene 

Several people have been injured in a ‘targeted terror attack’ involving Molotov cocktails in Boulder, Colorado

Yet Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the attack ‘appears to be a hate crime given the group that was targeted.

‘People may have differing views about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences,’ he added. 

‘Hate has no place in Colorado. We all have the right to peaceably assemble and the freedom to speak our views. 

‘But these violent acts—which are becoming more frequent, brazen and closer to home—must stop and those who commit these horrific acts must be fully held to account.’ 

Weiser added that his ‘thoughts are with those injured and impacted by today’s attack against a group that meets weekly on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall to call for the release of the hostages in Gaza.’

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino also called the incident ‘an act of terror and targeted violence’. 

‘All of the necessary assets will be dedicated to this investigation. If you have any investigative tips please contact the FBI. And if you aided or abetted this attack, we will find you. You cannot hide,’ he wrote on X. 

Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement that he was ‘closely monitoring’ the situation, adding that ‘hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable.’ 

Police said Soliman was taken into custody without incident

Police said Soliman was taken into custody without incident

 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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