A man who carried out a deadly firebomb attack on a demonstration in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to murder and multiple other charges.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman was sentenced in connection with the June 1, 2025, attack in Boulder, Colorado, in which one woman was killed, and more than a dozen others were injured.
According to authorities, Soliman threw two Molotov cocktails at participants gathered at Boulder’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall for a weekly demonstration supporting the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
Karen Diamond, 82, later died from injuries sustained in the attack. Twelve others were injured.
Soliman appeared in court on Thursday and looked down at a desk during the sentencing proceedings. Speaking through an interpreter, he apologized to the victims and expressed sorrow over Diamond’s death.
“There are no words that can express my sadness for her passing," Soliman said.
He also stated that he was not seeking leniency and said he wanted federal prosecutors handling his separate hate crime case to pursue the death penalty.
“If I went back, I would not have done this, as this is not according to the teaching of Islam," he said. “What I did came out of myself and only myself."
Earlier this week, court documents revealed that Soliman intended to plead guilty to murder and additional charges tied to the attack.
Investigators alleged Soliman, an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the US illegally, spent a year planning the assault and intended “to kill all Zionist people." Authorities said he was carrying more than two dozen Molotov cocktails during the attack, but threw only two before fleeing while shouting “Free Palestine!"
Police said Soliman later told investigators he became frightened because he had never hurt anyone before.
Diamond’s sons described their mother’s suffering in a statement read in court by prosecutors.
“In those weeks, we learned the full meaning of the expressions ‘living hell’ and ‘fate worse than death,’" Andrew and Ethan Diamond said.
A physician injured in the attack also submitted a statement describing the helplessness of witnessing Diamond’s condition and realizing she would not survive.
Boulder Mayor Pro Tem Tara Winer said several of the victims were close friends.
“It was a horrific attack," Winer said this week. “Their lives were changed forever."
Soliman has pleaded not guilty to separate federal hate crime charges. Federal prosecutors allege the victims were targeted because of their actual or perceived connection to Israel.
His defense attorneys have argued the attack was motivated by opposition to Zionism, which they describe as a political movement, and therefore should not qualify as a hate crime under federal law.
Federal prosecutors are reportedly considering whether to seek the death penalty in the federal case.
State prosecutors identified 29 victims in the attack, including 13 people who suffered physical injuries. A dog injured in the incident led to an additional animal cruelty charge.
Soliman moved to the US from Kuwait in 2022 with his wife and five children and lived in Colorado Springs. His attorneys said the attack was “profoundly inconsistent" with his previous behavior and shocked his family.
His former wife and children were released from immigration detention in April under electronic monitoring despite a deportation order. His attorneys are seeking to delay the family’s deportation while legal proceedings in the federal case continue.