The man has pleaded guilty to more than 100 crimes state criminal chargesHe appeared in federal court Thursday on a charge of first-degree murder stemming from the June 2025 attack on the Pearl Street Mall. changed his attitude towards pleading guilty Facing more than a dozen charges.
“I’m always nervous about someone saying ‘no’ until they finally say ‘yes,’ so just like finally getting to that element… you know… I made a note of the time he said ‘guilty,'” said assault survivor Ed Victor.
Mohamed Soliman admits attack during peaceful demonstrations last summer in support of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas. According to prosecutors, Soliman threw two Molotov cocktails at the group. kill someone and injured more than a dozen people.
“He admitted that he acted because of the victim’s actual or perceived Israeli nationality and the victim’s actual or perceived Jewish religion,” Colorado U.S. Attorney Peter McNeely said at a news conference. “Anti-Semitism erodes the common bonds that bind our great country together and has no place in the United States.”
At the time of the attack, the group was named run for life A parade has been held every Sunday for more than a year in downtown Boulder. Each week, the group marches down Pearl Street Mall and ends at the historic Boulder County Courthouse.
Soliman pleaded guilty to state charges in May. The judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the first-degree murder charge, in addition to 2,128 years in prison for the other charges he pleaded guilty to.
“I was there that day and I told him, ‘You’re going to jail,’ and every time something happens that puts him in jail, I want to be here,” said Aaron Brooks, another assault survivor. “I still think about my friends when I’m going through this. I still think about Karen Dimon. I don’t think that feeling will ever go away. I don’t want people to come and support my friends, and I don’t think that feeling will ever go away.
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Soliman also faces 12 federal hate crime charges. He appeared before a judge at Arraj Court at 10am on Thursday for a change of plea hearing. The judge found Soliman competent to plead guilty to each count. He previously pleaded not guilty to federal charges on June 27, 2025.
The 12 charges include:
- 1 Count – Hate Crime Causing Death – Karen Diamond
- 7 counts – Hate crime involving bodily harm and intent to kill – Intentional causing bodily harm
- 1 count – Hate crime involving attempt to inflict bodily harm and attempted homicide – Intentional infliction of bodily harm using an explosive or incendiary device
- 2 counts – use of fire or explosives to commit a felony
- 1 Count – Possession of Explosives During the Commission of a Felony
“This is why the federal case is important in addition to the state case: The federal case holds Mohamed Soliman accountable for the hateful ideology that led to his violent actions in Boulder, Colorado, in June 2025. He has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime, which suggests that his motivation was that he believed these people were Jews and Israelis, and that was why he committed violence that day,” said Colorado District Attorney Peter McNeely.
The judge has not yet made a decision on sentencing but said the guidelines are just a guideline and he may not follow them. Prosecutors and Soliman’s defense team asked for a life sentence plus 50 years.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2027 at 10 a.m.
Following the change of plea hearing, ADL Mountain Region Director Susan Rona provided this statement to CBS Colorado, “Last year’s firebomber in Boulder, Colorado, pleaded guilty today to federal hate crime charges, admitting that he targeted people of religious or national origin. This admission, made in federal court, reinforces what they have already shown: It was an act of anti-Semitism.
“No legal outcome can bring back the life of Karen Sorin Diamond, who died from injuries sustained in the attack, or undo the trauma her attacker inflicted on other survivors and the Boulder Jewish community. This guilty plea is an important step toward justice, and we are grateful to the federal prosecutors and law enforcement who held him accountable.”
Many survivors also mentioned the importance of acknowledging that this was an attack motivated by perceived Israeli ethnic origin and actual or perceived Jewish religion.
“I know people who are hurt are still going through that hurt. The trauma and the emotions are still going on, so it’s weird. That’s what I mean, ‘It’s a chapter, but it’s not an ending,'” Victor added.