Boulder attack suspect to appear in court as family remains in ICE detention

The suspect in the Boulder firebombing will appear in Colorado court on Thursday, as an attorney for his family, who are in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, calls for their release.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian national who entered the country legally in 2022, has a return-of-filing charges hearing in Boulder County court at 3:30 p.m. local time (5:30 p.m. ET) in connection with the June 1 antisemitic attack at Pearl Street pedestrian mall. This hearing typically occurs before the preliminary hearing or arraignment.

Soliman is accused of using a “makeshift flamethrower” and Molotov cocktails on a group of people peacefully calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

The attack injured at least 15 people, ranging in age from 25 to 88, and one dog, prosecutors said in an update Wednesday.

Soliman faces state charges of attempted first-degree murder after deliberation, attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference, first-degree assault, including against an at-risk victim older than 70, and possession of an incendiary device.

Separately, Soliman was charged with a federal hate crime on Monday.

The White House on Tuesday announced that Soliman’s wife and five children were taken into ICE custody “for expedited removal.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X that the department was investigating “to what extent” Soliman’s family knew about the attack or supported it.

A federal judge on Wednesday issued an order preventing the deportation of the wife and children. They have not been charged in connection with the Pearl Street attack.

Soliman is an Egyptian national who entered the country on a B2 visa, typically issued to tourists, in August 2022. The following month, he filed for asylum with his family as dependents, according to the Department of Homeland Security and court documents. While his visa expired in February 2023, Soliman had not yet exhausted all legal options to stay in the U.S.

An attorney for Soliman’s wife, Hayam El Gamal, told NBC News that she and her kids are at the Dilley family detention center in Texas.

“There is no precedent in the history of the United States for the type of collective family-based punishment that the Trump administration is doling out on this family,” the attorney, Eric Lee, told NBC’s Morgan Chesky.

“It’s extremely dangerous, and it’s something that should concern every single person that’s watching,” he added.

“You can imagine the shock that they were in when they learned the charges that were being brought against their father or husband, and then suddenly to find themselves being whisked away in the dark of night, out of their home state of Colorado to a new place in a detention center, huddled together without really any idea about whether they were going to be sent to a country from which they had applied for the right to asylum,” Lee continued.

Lee said the kids include two 4-year-olds, an 8-year-old, a 15-year-old, and a 17-year-old. Lee said the government previously said the eldest child is 18, which is wrong.

He said he’s sought habeas relief to protect the family from being removed.

Lee said he hasn’t had the opportunity to speak to the family in depth, as calls were cut off after a few minutes twice yesterday.

“One could only imagine what this family is going through. They’ve done absolutely nothing wrong,” he said.