Boulder attack suspect charged with federal hate crimes
Flowers and a flag at the site of the attack outside the Boulder County Courthouse in Boulder
By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN
(CNN) — The Justice Department has charged a man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a group of people demonstrating in Boulder, Colorado, in support of Israeli hostages with committing hate crimes.
The indictment comes days after a federal judge in the state said the department could proceed with hate crimes charges against the man, Mohamed Sabry Soliman. He was already facing two such charges.
On June 1, prosecutors say, Soliman hurled Molotov cocktails at the group, injuring at least eight people. Investigators say he planned the attack for a year and was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people.”
Soliman, an Egyptian national, is now facing a total of 12 hate crimes charges, the Justice Department said Wednesday, some of which carry a potential sentence of life in prison.
As part of the indictment, prosecutors revealed new allegations of a handwritten note they allege law enforcement found in Soliman’s car after the attack.
“Zionism is our enemies untill Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from ourland,” the note read, according to court documents. Soliman also described Israel as a “cancer entity,” documents show.
Once in custody, investigators say, Soliman said he had intended to kill people at the demonstration and that he “decide[d] to take [his] revenge from these people,” and “search[ed] the internet looking for any Zionist event.”
Soliman has not yet entered a formal plea in the case.
In a recent hearing, Soliman’s defense attorney David Kraut argued that Soliman sought to target the protesting group because of their political views – their assumed support for the nation of Israel and the political movement of Zionism – and not because members of the group were Jewish. An attack motivated by someone’s political views is not considered a hate crime under federal law.
The judge acknowledged there may be holes in the prosecutors’ case, but said that at this stage, the government gets the benefit of the doubt on questions about evidence.
This story has been updated with additional details.
The-CNN-Wire
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