What we know about the Colorado attack on demonstrators for the release of Israeli hostages

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The man who authorities say firebombed people in Boulder, Colorado, who were demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages, has been charged in state court with over 100 counts, including attempted murder and assault.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the U.S. illegally, has also been charged with a hate crime in federal court and is jailed on a $10 million cash bond.

Authorities say Soliman yelled “Free Palestine" and threw two of 18 Molotov cocktails he was carrying. Officials said he expressed no regrets about the attack, which came after a man who also yelled “Free Palestine” was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington on May 21.

The Israel-Hamas war has contributed to a spike in antisemitism in the U.S. It began in October 2023 when Hamas militants in Gaza stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage.

Soliman was charged with 118 counts in a Colorado court Thursday.

His attorney, Kathryn Herold, waived a formal reading of the charges and a preliminary hearing was set for July 15 to determine whether the state has enough evidence to move forward.

The attempted murder charges alone could result in Soliman being sentenced to as many as 672 years if convicted, said Michael Dougherty, the Boulder County district attorney.

He appeared Friday in a Denver federal court for an initial hearing and will return June 18 for proceedings to determine if prosecutors have sufficient evidence to put him on trial.

Soliman entered the country in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, according to Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. Soliman filed for asylum and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that also expired.

He, his wife and children were living in Colorado Springs. A federal judge issued an order Wednesday to halt the deportation of Soliman’s wife and children, who were taken into custody Tuesday by U.S. immigration officials. The family members, all Egyptian citizens, have not been charged in the attack. They were being held at an immigration detention center in Texas, said Eric Lee, an attorney representing the family.

Soliman told authorities that no one, including his family, knew about his attack plan, according to court documents. Authorities are investigating whether that’s true.

In response to the attack, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Wednesday that federal authorities will crack down on people who overstay their visas.

Soliman told police he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people,” referring to the movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel. The attack on the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder targeted what Soliman described as a “Zionist group,” authorities said in court papers charging him with a federal hate crime.

That charge carries a sentence of life in prison when it includes attempted murder.

The people hurt in the attack are demonstrators with Run for Their Lives, a global grassroots initiative that started in October 2023 after Hamas' attack in Israel. Through weekly walks, the group’s 230 chapters seek to raise awareness of the 58 people believed to still be in captivity in Gaza, said Shira Weiss, the organization’s global coordinator.

Authorities have said 15 people and a dog were victims of the attack. But not all of them were physically injured, with some being considered victims for the legal case because they were in the area and could have been hurt. The dog was among the injured, Dougherty said.

The victims include eight women and seven men, range in age from 25 to 88, and their injuries range from serious to minor.

Rodriguez reported from San Francisco and Schoenbaum from Salt Lake City.

A passer-by touches the flag of Israel taped on to the top of a bollard on the east end of the Pearl Street Mall near the Boulder County, Colo., courthouse Monday, June 2, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Roses are covered in drops of rain as a storm sweeps over a makeshift memorial for victims of an attack outside of the Boulder County, Colo., courthouse Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A woman places a bouquet of flowers at a makeshift memorial for victims of an attack outside of the Boulder County, Colo., courthouse Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A man affixes a bouquet of flowers to a makeshift memorial for victims of an attack outside of the Boulder County, Colo., courthouse Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Law enforcement officials dress to investigate after an attack on the Peark Street Mall Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Fighting raged Saturday morning along the border of Thailand and Cambodia, even after U.S. President Donald Trump, acting as a mediator, declared that he had won agreement from both countries for a new ceasefire.

Thai officials said they did not agree to a ceasefire. Cambodia has not commented directly on Trump’s claim, but its defense ministry said Thai jets carried out airstrikes Saturday morning.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Saturday that some of Trump's remarks didn't “reflect an accurate understanding of the situation.”

He said Trump’s characterization of a land mine explosion that wounded Thai soldiers as a “roadside accident” was inaccurate, and did not reflect Thailand's position that it was a deliberate act of aggression.

Sihasak said that Trump’s willingness to credit what may be “information from sources that deliberately distorted the facts” instead of believing Thailand hurt the feelings of the Thai people “because we consider ourselves — we are proud, in fact — to be the oldest treaty ally of the United States in the region.”

The latest large-scale fighting was set off by a skirmish on Dec. 7 that wounded two Thai soldiers and derailed a ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended five days of earlier combat in July over longstanding territorial disputes.

The July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.

More than two dozen people on both sides of the border have officially been reported killed in this past week’s fighting, while more than half a million have been displaced.

The Thai military acknowledged 15 of its troops died during the fighting, and estimated earlier this week that there have been 165 fatalities among Cambodian soldiers. Cambodia has not announced military casualties, but has said at least 11 civilians have been killed and more than six dozen wounded.

Trump, after speaking to Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, announced on Friday an agreement to restart the ceasefire.

“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

Trump’s claim came after midnight in Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Anutin had, after his call with Trump, said he had explained Thailand’s reasons for fighting and said peace would depend on Cambodia ceasing its attacks first.

The Thai foreign ministry later explicitly disputed Trump’s claim that a ceasefire had been reached. Anutin's busy day on Friday included dissolving Parliament, so new elections could be held early next year.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, in comments posted early Saturday morning, also made no mention of a ceasefire.

Hun Manet said he held phone conversations on Friday night with Trump, and a night earlier with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and thanked both “for their continuous efforts to achieve a long-lasting peace between Cambodia and Thailand.”

“Cambodia is ready to cooperate in any way that is needed," Hun Manet wrote.

Anwar later posted on social media that he was urging the two sides to implement a ceasefire on Saturday night. Cambodia's prime minister, also posting online, endorsed the initiative, which included having Malaysia and the United States help monitor it. However, Thai Prime Minister Anutin denied that his country was even in negotiations over the proposal.

Thailand has been carrying out airstrikes on what it says are strictly military targets, while Cambodia has been firing thousands of medium-range BM-21 rockets that have caused havoc but relatively few casualties.

BM-21 rocket launchers can fire up to 40 rockets at a time with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles). These rockets cannot be precisely targeted and have landed largely in areas from where most people have already been evacuated.

However, the Thai army announced Saturday that BM-21 rockets had hit a civilian area in Sisaket province, seriously injuring two civilians who had heard warning sirens and had been running toward a bunker for safety.

Thailand's navy was also reported by both sides' militaries to have joined the fighting on Saturday morning, with a warship in the Gulf of Thailand shelling Cambodia's southwestern province of Koh Kong. Each side said the other opened fire first.

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Peck reported from Bangkok. Sopheng Cheang in Serei Saophoan, Cambodia, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

A man sits in a tent as he takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

An evacuee cooks soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

An evacuee tastes soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Evacuees cook food as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Children raise their hands while receiving donation from charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Evacuees wait to receive donation from local charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Village security volunteers and resident run into shelter while the blasts sounded too close in Buriram province, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, following renewed border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)