Mohamed Soliman pleads guilty to federal hate crimes for deadly Colorado firebomb attack

The guilty plea resolves federal charges stemming from an attack that resulted in one fatality, severe burns for Karen Diamond, 82, and injuries to a dozen others, while setting a Jan. 7 sentencing date before U.S. District Judge John Kane.

• •Mohamed Soliman pleaded guilty Thursday to nine federal hate crime counts and three federal explosives charges.
• •Federal prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life in prison plus 50 years for the dozen counts.
• •The attack involved throwing two Molotov cocktails at demonstrators marching in support of hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
• •The attack severely burned 82-year-old Karen Diamond, who died three weeks later, and injured a dozen others.
• •Soliman is already serving life in prison plus hundreds of years after pleading guilty to state charges last spring.
• •U.S. District Judge John Kane set Soliman's federal sentencing hearing for Jan. 7 and noted that sentencing guidelines are not binding.
• •Federal authorities alleged Soliman planned the attack for a year, posing as a gardener to approach the demonstration on Pearl Street.
• •Soliman entered the U.S. in 2022 on a tourist visa that expired the following year and subsequently filed for asylum.
• •State prosecutors previously identified 29 attack victims, noting that 13 were physically injured and an injured dog led to an animal cruelty charge.