Family of Colorado fire-bomb suspect taken into ICE custody

The family of the Egyptian national charged with tossing gasoline bombs at a pro-Israeli rally in Colorado was taken into federal custody on Tuesday and could be quickly deported, officials said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a social media video post that ICE had taken into custody the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who lived in Colorado Springs and who federal officials have said was in the U.S. illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa and an expired work permit.

Noem said while Soliman will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, federal agents were also “investigating to what extent his family knew about this horrific attack – if they had any knowledge of it or if they provided any support for it.”

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for more details about the detention of Soliman’s family.

According to local media reports, Soliman’s family included two teenagers and three younger children. FBI and police officials had said on Monday that the family has cooperated with investigators. The suspect told investigators he acted alone.

The White House, in a social media post, said Soliman’s family was in ICE’s custody for “expedited removal” and that they “could be deported as early as tonight.”

Department of Homeland Security officials said Soliman entered the United States in August 2022 on a tourist visa, filed for asylum the following month, and remained in the country after his visa expired in February 2023.

The Sunday attack in Boulder, Colorado, injured a dozen people, many of them elderly. The attack targeted people taking part in an event organized by Run for Their Lives, an organization devoted to drawing attention to the hostages seized during Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel.

Soliman, 45, told investigators that he wanted to “kill all Zionist people” but had delayed committing the attack until after his daughter graduated from high school, according to state and federal court documents charging him with attempted murder, assault and a federal hate crime.

Police and FBI affidavits quoted the suspect as saying he took firearms training to obtain a concealed-carry permit but ended up using Molotov cocktails because his noncitizen status blocked him from buying guns. Soliman told investigators that he had learned how to make the fire bombs from YouTube.

A police affidavit filed in support of Soliman’s arrest warrant said he was born in Egypt, lived in Kuwait for 17 years and moved three years ago to Colorado Springs, about 100 miles (161 km) south of Boulder, where he lived with his wife and five children.

Federal and local authorities said at a Monday news conference in Boulder that Soliman had done nothing to draw law enforcement attention before Sunday’s attack. He was believed to have acted alone, they said.

An affidavit said the suspect “threw two lit Molotov cocktails at individuals participating in the pro-Israel gathering,” yelling, “Free Palestine” as they ignited in the crowd.

The attack was the latest act of violence aimed at Jewish Americans linked to outrage over Israel’s escalating military offensive in Gaza. It followed the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy aides that took place outside Washington’s Capital Jewish Museum last month.