BOULDER, COLORADO — Mohamed Sabry Soliman was scheduled to appear in Boulder state court on Thursday to plead guilty to murder and other charges stemming from a June 1, 2025 firebomb attack on a demonstration in support of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Soliman faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole in the state case.

Soliman was set to enter his plea before state District Judge Nancy Salomone. He had initially pleaded not guilty in state court to murder and dozens of attempted murder and assault charges, and faces dozens of state counts in connection with the attack.

The attack killed one person and injured a dozen others at the Pearl Street pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder, where a weekly demonstration was being held. An 82-year-old woman injured in the attack later died. Soliman threw two Molotov cocktails at demonstrators and yelled "Free Palestine!" during the attack, according to authorities.

Soliman's attorneys said in a court filing that he would also plead guilty in a related federal case. He had pleaded not guilty in federal court to hate crime charges, and prosecutors are weighing whether to seek the death penalty in that case, according to his attorneys. Federal prosecutors allege the victims were targeted because of their perceived or actual connection to Israel.

His federal defense lawyers argue he should not have been charged with hate crimes because he was motivated by opposition to Zionism, the political movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel. Under federal law, an attack motivated by someone's political views is not considered a hate crime.

Soliman is an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the U.S. illegally. He moved to the U.S. from Kuwait in 2022 with his wife and their five children, and worked in a series of low-paying jobs after arriving. At the time of the June 2025 attack, he was living with his family in a two-bedroom apartment in Colorado Springs, about 97 miles from Boulder. He and his wife divorced in April 2025.

Boulder Mayor Pro Tem Tara Winer said in an email that the victims included some of her close friends and that she planned to attend the court hearing to support them. "It was a horrific attack. Their lives were changed forever," Winer said. Boulder is a city of 100,000 people northwest of Denver and home to the University of Colorado.