The family of the illegal alien arrested for the Sunday, June 1, 2025, firebombing of a group in Boulder, Colorado, calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, has been taken into ICE custody, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and faces "expedited removal" from the country, according to a White House Statement posted online.
Witnesses say Mohamed Sabry Soliman used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to firebomb the peaceful protesters, yelling “Free Palestine” during the attack, which occurred on the first day of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
The 45-year-old Egyptian-born man the FBI says committed the "targeted act of terrorism," entered the US via Los Angeles in August of 2022, overstayed his tourist visa, but obtained a work permit during the Biden Administration, which expired last March. He has remained illegally with his wife and five children (who appear to have had legal status) in Colorado Springs since then.
According to an FBI affidavit, Soliman told police he "wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead."
According to the affidavit, Soliman also said he had been planning the attack for a year, but waited to carry it out until after his daughter graduated from High School on Thursday, May 29, 2025.
On Monday, June 2, 2025, right-wing activist Laura Loomer began posting photos and biographical information about Soliman's daughter to x.com and directed a post to the DHS Secretary asking, "Why hasn’t she been detained and deported back to Kuwait? @KristiNoem "
On Tuesday, June 3, 2025, Noem announced that DHS & ICE had taken her, along with her mother, two brothers, and three sisters, into custody:
The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that Soliman's wife went to the local police station following her husband's arrest and that "officials said Soliman's family cooperated with the investigation."
Soliman's daughter was well-known locally and had recently been featured in an article by the newspaper. (We are not publishing her first name or her photo because she may be a minor).
She was one of 20 local high school student recipients of "the annual Gazette Charities Foundation Best and Brightest Scholarship ... for their outstanding academic achievements, leadership, and contributions to their community."
The newspaper noted that she "started an Arabic club and participates as a Big Sister helping middle school students feel more comfortable with high school ... earned academic honors each year ... (and) that her favorite service activity is volunteering at a UCHealth hospital."
She also told the paper that when "she was young her father underwent a difficult surgery that restored his ability to walk" which inspired her to aim for a medical education - something she could not do in Kuwait where her family resided for 14 years because she was born in Egypt. She had also been accepted into two Colorado universities.
Laura Loomer, who has the ear of President Trump and others in his administration, has called for her deportation, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio supports:
Although Mohamed Sabry Soliman was in the country illegally, Loomer has indicated the rest of his family possessed valid visas (which she says are being revoked), subjecting the family to possibly being "deported with an expedited removal."
Late Tuesday, Loomer’s social media campaign appeared to have reached the White House (which announced the family had “been captured”) and that”THEY COULD BE DEPORTED AS EARLY AS TONIGHT”
However, not everyone online is cheering on Loomer's successful social media campaign against the daughter:
UPDATE: On Wednesday, June 4, 2025, a US Federal Judge in Colorado temporarily blocked the family’s deportation and scheduled a hearing on a Temporary Restraining Order for June 13, 2025.
Do you believe Mohamed Sabry Soliman's family should face deportation even though his wife is cooperating with authorities in their investigation?
Share your opinion in the comments on this article!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
Thanks for covering a complex issue with the nuance it deserves. While learning about the guy's surgical procedure makes his behavior even more offensive, I agree that an ICE interview might be the best way to resolve the question of his family's loyalties. I also think Trump knows that it might be a slippery slope to follow the advice of people like Laura Loomer, for the same reason sensible Democrats should keep their own extremists at arm's length. And judging kids by the actions of their parents is a unreliable barometer. Trump's own siblings are a testament to that.
Yes deport them. For their own safety. 😁