Man who threw Molotov cocktails yelling 'Free Palestine' pleads guilty to federal hate crime

An Egyptian man pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and other charges for a deadly firebombing attack on protestors in Boulder, Colorado, last year. 

Mohamed Soliman is currently serving life in prison after pleading guilty to state charges last spring, and Thursday's guilty plea means he will face an additional life sentence, the Associated Press reported. 

As demonstrators marched in support of hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, Soliman lit and threw two Molotov cocktails at those marching and yelled "Free Palestine." 

According to federal prosecutors, Soliman attacked the demonstrators in June 2025 because they were Jewish. Karen Diamond, 82, who was badly burned in the attack, died three weeks later after suffering what her family said was "indescribable pain." 

On Thursday, Soliman pleaded guilty to nine federal counts of hate crimes, including one resulting in Diamond’s death and eight for attempting to kill other demonstrators. Three additional counts were federal weapons charges.