US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials arrested the wife and five children of Mohamed Sabry Soliman on June 3, two days after he allegedly carried out a violent attack on a peaceful demonstration in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The family is now in custody and may be deported within days.
Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, announced the arrests in a video posted on social media. She stated that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE had taken the family of "suspected Boulder, Colorado, terrorist and illegal alien Mohamed Soliman" into custody and would investigate whether they had prior knowledge of the attack.
Soliman is accused of using Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower to set fire to a crowd gathered for a solidarity rally in Boulder. The incident left 12 people injured, including eight who were hospitalised with burns. One of the victims, Rabbi Israel Wilhelm, is a Holocaust survivor in his late 80s.
According to police documents, Soliman told investigators he had been planning the attack for a year. He said he deliberately waited until after his daughter’s high school graduation to carry it out. Soliman claimed he had not informed his family about his intentions and had left a phone in a drawer with farewell messages. His wife later handed the device to the authorities.
Soliman entered the United States legally in August 2022 on a B2 tourist visa. He applied for asylum a month later, in September 2022. His visa expired in February 2023, but under existing US immigration law, he was permitted to remain in the country while his asylum application was processed. During this time, he was granted a work permit.
The suspect’s daughter, Habiba Soliman, who had been awarded a scholarship by a local Colorado Springs newspaper, had written in her application that her time in the United States had taught her to thrive under pressure and appreciate her family’s support. She had expressed a desire to pursue a career in medicine and was described as having lived in Kuwait for most of her childhood before relocating to the US two years ago.
The State Department has now revoked the visas of Soliman’s wife and children. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed that their deportation proceedings were already underway.
Trump administration officials have used the incident to criticise previous immigration policies. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said the country must reverse what he called "suicidal migration". Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced plans to review and revoke visas for other foreign nationals considered to be threats.
"Six one-way tickets for Mohamed’s wife and five kids. Final boarding call coming soon," the White House declared in a post on social media.
