BOULDER, Colo. — The suspect in Sunday afternoon’s Pearl Street attack, injuring 8 people, was in the United States illegally, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The man who reportedly used a “makeshift flamethrower” to attack a peaceful pro-Israel demonstration came to the U.S. in August of 2022 on a tourism visa that expired in Februrary 2023, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin told ABC News. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, applied for asylum in September 2022, according to McLaughlin.
Stephen Miller confirmed the claims in the following statement on social media:
A terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado by an illegal alien. He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit.
Suicidal migration must be fully reversed.
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) June 2, 2025
He was arrested Sunday at 1:32 p.m. but wasn’t booked until 11:57 p.m. Sunday. Sabry Soliman is being held in the Boulder County Jail on a $10 million bond, and is set for his first court appearance at 1:30 p.m. Monday.
He faces eight felony charges, including two counts of first-degree murder. However, Boulder police have not confirmed any of the eight victims of this attack have died.
Sabry Soliman was also booked on a criminal attempt to commit a Class Two felony charge, two first-degree assault charges and one count of committing crimes against an at-risk adult/elderly person causing serious injury.
The victims were identified as people between the ages of 52 and 88. One of those victims is a Holocaust survivor, a participant in prior demonstrations told Denver7’s Colette Bordelon. At least six of the victims are receiving treatment at local hospitals. Two were airlifted to a burn unit at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.
Sabry Soliman faces a charge of using explosives or incendiary devices during a felony as well.
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