Suspect in Colorado attack told police he researched for a year and targeted ‘Zionist group’ – AP
The FBI have said the man charged in the attack in Boulder, Colorado, that left eight people injured told police he planned it for a year and specifically targeted what he described as the “Zionist group”.
An FBI affidavit says Mohammed Soliman confessed to the attack after being taken into custody Sunday and told the police he would do it again, the Associated Press reports.
The affidavit was released in support of a federal hate crime charged filed by the justice department earlier today.
The group that was targeted had gathered in a popular pedestrian park in Boulder to draw attention to the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.
Key events
The Islamic Center of Boulder has condemned the “targeted violence” of yesterday’s attack. “Such actions have no place in the Boulder community,” the center said in a statement today.
The statement reads:
Hate and violence oppose our values and are a threat to all Americans. We call on our neighbors to focus on supporting the victims of this terrible attack, and to reject those who would use this horrible incident to divide our community.
Every individual and every community has the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and free expression. These fundamental freedoms must be respected and safeguarded for everyone, regardless of their views or background.
Boulder attack has ‘every single hallmark of being a hate crime’, says Colorado attorney general
Earlier this morning, Colorado attorney general Phil Weiser said the Boulder attack was “very cruel” and has “every single hallmark of being a hate crime”.
“This was a peaceful march done every single week by the Jewish community, calling out the injustices of the hostages, and they were attacked because of who they are,” he said on MSNBC. “It is heart-wrenching for all of us in Colorado.”
“It is repulsive,” said Weiser, who is Jewish, of the violence. “It’s got to be condemned. There’s no possible justification for this.”
Trump says Boulder attack suspect ‘must go’ as he vows prosecution
Donald Trump has said the suspect in the Boulder attack would be prosecuted to “to the fullest extent of the law” and stressed the need for his deportation policies, saying the suspect “must go”.
“Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “He must go out under ‘TRUMP’ Policy.”
Here’s the full post:
Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America. He came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly. He must go out under “TRUMP” Policy. Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland. My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!
Boulder attack suspect charged with federal hate crime – CNN
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in yesterday’s attack in Boulder, Colorado, on a crowd who were raising awareness for Israeli hostages in Gaza has been charged with a hate crime, CNN is reporting citing an affidavit filed today.
He was charged with a “hate crime involving actual or perceived race, religion, or national origin”, CNN quotes the affidavit as saying.
Trump asks supreme court to allow mass federal layoffs
Donald Trump’s administration has asked the supreme court to halt a judicial order blocking mass job cuts and the restructuring of agencies, Reuters reports.
The justice department’s request came after San Francisco-based US district judge Susan Illston blocked large-scale federal layoffs, known as “reductions in force,” in a 22 May ruling siding with a group of unions, non-profit groups and local governments that challenged the administration.
The case involves the departments of agriculture, commerce, health and human services, state, treasury and veterans affairs, among others.
Trump directed federal agencies in February to “promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force” as part of his administration’s restructuring plans.
Illston wrote in her ruling that Trump had exceeded his authority in ordering the downsizing. “As history demonstrates, the president may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress,” Illston wrote.
Illston on 9 May had initially blocked about 20 agencies from making mass layoffs for two weeks and ordered the reinstatement of workers who had lost their jobs. She continued most of that relief in her 22 May ruling.
The San Francisco-based 9th US circuit court of appeals in a 2-1 ruling on 30 May denied the Trump administration’s request to halt the judge’s ruling.
The 9th Circuit said the administration had not shown that it would suffer an irreparable injury if the judge’s order remained in place and that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail in their lawsuit. “The executive order at issue here far exceeds the president’s supervisory powers under the Constitution,” the 9th Circuit wrote, calling the administration’s actions “an unprecedented attempted restructuring of the federal government and its operations.”
Trump’s administration has sought relief from the supreme court in a growing number of cases following rulings by lower courts impeding various policies since he returned to office in January.
Police found 16 additional molotov cocktails in the area where the Boulder attack suspect was spotted, CNN is reporting citing multiple law enforcement sources.
The suspect arrived in the area of the incident around 1pm local time and lingered there before throwing two incendiary devices, according to multiple law enforcement sources. He was wearing a utility vest over his shirt and was carrying a garden sprayer filled with gasoline, sources said.
Many witnesses said he looked like a gardener, officials added. He used the garden sprayer as the ‘makeshift flamethrower’, apparently, by spraying gasoline in the direction of the marchers while holding a lighter in front of the stream of fuel, sources said.
Investigators believe he stopped at gas stations in the area before the attack to fill the bottles and the garden sprayer.
Witnesses said the suspect took off his vest and shirt because they had started to catch fire during the attack, according to police. He was taken to an area hospital after his arrest for burns he sustained to his hands during the attack.
Democratic senator Chris Murphy has launched a new political action committee to help fund groups that are organizing opposition to the Trump administration.
The group, American Mobilization Pac, plans to spend $400,000 to organizations that oppose cuts to Medicaid and register young people to vote. The group expects to spend upwards of $2m in the 2026 midterm cycle, Politico reports.
In an interview with the outlet, Murphy said his Pac is unique because it is not focused on funding campaigns and instead is looking to mobilize people against Trump’s agenda. He said:
All of us have to realize that if we don’t act aggressively right now to organize and mobilize, we may not have our democracy in 2026. I’m a believer that the only thing that is ultimately going to stop Trump’s corruption and his destruction of democracy is mass mobilization.
The Boulder police department has released a mugshot of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who has been charged with multiple felonies related to the Sunday attack at an event in Boulder, Colorado to raise attention for Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Carter Sherman
At least 20 Planned Parenthood clinics across seven states have shuttered since the start of 2025 or have announced plans to close soon – closures that come amid immense financial and political turbulence for the reproductive health giant as the United States continues to grapple with the fallout from the end of Roe v Wade.
The Planned Parenthood network, which operates nearly 600 clinics through a web of independent regional affiliates and is overseen by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, is facing a number of threats from the Trump administration.
A Guardian analysis has found that Planned Parenthood closures have occurred or are in the works across six affiliates that maintain clinics in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Utah and Vermont.
In late March, the Trump administration suddenly froze tens of millions of dollars in funding for nine Planned Parenthood affiliates, including at least two that have since closed clinics or are set to do so soon.
The funding, which flowed from the federal family planning program Title X, was used to provide services such as contraception, cancer screenings and STI tests.
Trump to speak to Xi Jinping ‘very soon’ in call likely to take place this week
Donald Trump is expected to have a direct conversation with Chinese president Xi Jinping in the coming days after his outburst last week accusing Beijing of “totally violating” an interim trade deal reached by the two countries in Geneva last month. According to CNBC the call will come “very soon” but probably not today.
Politico had also reported this morning that cabinet members confirmed yesterday that trade talks with China had slowed but had also hinted at the Trump-Xi conversation likely taking place this week. “That’s our expectation,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said a call should come “very soon”, telling CBS that China has slow-walked a critical minerals agreement – which was also cited by US trade representative Jamieson Greer last week.
