Mohamed Soliman set to change plea on federal charges in Boulder firebombing attack

The man who already pleaded guilty to more than 100 state criminal charges, including first-degree murder, for an attack on the Pearl Street Mall in June 2025, will appear in federal court on Thursday for a change of plea hearing. 

Mohamed Soliman admitted to the attack during last summer's demonstration in support of Israeli captives held by Hamas. According to prosecutors, Soliman threw two Molotov cocktails at the group, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen others.

At the time of the attack, the organization known as Run for Their Lives had been marching through downtown Boulder every Sunday for more than a year. Each week, the group marched along the Pearl Street Mall and ended their gathering at the historic Boulder County Courthouse.

Soliman pleaded guilty to state charges in May of this year. The judge handed down a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder conviction, in addition to 2,128 years in prison for the other charges he pleaded guilty to.  

Soliman also faces 12 federal hate crime charges. He will appear before a judge in the Arraj Courthouse for the change-of-plea hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday. 

He had previously pleaded not guilty to the federal charges on June 27, 2025.