A Colorado State District Court held a hearing on Tuesday for Mohamed Soliman, who is charged with carrying out last month’s deadly antisemitic attack in Boulder.
During the June 1 attack, which took place near the courthouse in downtown Boulder, Soliman threw Molotov cocktails at demonstrators marching in observance of the Israeli hostages in Gaza while shouting “Free Palestine.”
More than 20 people were injured, and one participant, 82-year-old Karen Diamond, a member of the Bonai Shalom synagogue community, later died from severe burns. She is survived by her husband, two sons, and five grandchildren.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Soliman sat mostly silently, appearing to follow the exchange between Judge Nancy Woodruff Solomon and the attorneys. He waived both his right to an Arabic interpreter and his right to a preliminary hearing.
His defense attorney requested a significant delay before Soliman would be required to enter a plea, citing the length and complexity of the indictment, which was amended after Diamond’s death to include two counts of first-degree murder along with dozens of attempted murder charges.
The indictment now lists a total of 184 counts. The defense said it was doubtful they could file a formal response before December. The prosecution opposed any delay, and Judge Solomon sided with prosecutors, scheduling the next hearing for early September.
Soliman faces separate federal case, indicted on 12 hate crime charges
Soliman also faces a separate federal case, where he has been indicted on 12 hate crime charges. He has already pleaded not guilty in that case, but it remains unclear whether the federal indictment will be amended following Diamond’s death.
Soliman, a 45-year-old accountant, lived in Kuwait for 17 years before entering the United States on a tourist visa in 2022, after which he applied for political asylum. He lived with his family in Colorado Springs.
According to authorities, Soliman planned the attack for more than a year. At the time of the attack, his visa and temporary work permit had expired for a significant period of time.
US authorities are also seeking to deport Soliman’s wife and five children, who were recently detained and transferred to a facility in Texas. Earlier this month, a federal judge declined to intervene in their case, rejecting the family’s legal appeal on jurisdictional grounds.