Boulder county DA says 16 unused Molotov cocktails were recovered after attack
The Boulder County district attorney, Michael Dougherty, just said that there were 16 unused Molotov cocktails recovered by officers in the aftermath of the attack.
Dougherty explained that his office will be prosecuting the suspect for 16 counts of attempted murder and other charges in parallel to the federal hate crimes prosecution.
If convicted, Soliman would be jailed for the rest of his life, with a cumulative of over 600 years.
He also said that there were 12 victims in total.
Key events
Suspect ‘was not on our radar in Boulder’ police chief says
Boulder police chief, Stephen Redfearn, said that the suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman “was not on our radar in Boulder” as a potential threat.
Mark Michalek of the FBI said that the suspect was not known to his office either.
Boulder police using video and license plate readers to piece together attack timeline
Boulder police chief, Stephen Redfearn, said that there is as yet no video of the suspect approaching the demonstration but officials are piecing together a timeline using video of the attack aftermath and license plate readers.
He also appealed to anyone who might have more video to bring it to the police.
Law enforcement officials will meet with Jewish community leaders
The Boulder police chief, Stephen Redfearn, said that his force has good relations with the city’s Jewish community and he and other law enforcement officials plan to meet Jewish community leaders shortly.
Attack site is now safe, Boulder police chief says
The Boulder police chief, Stephen Redfearn, told the public at the news conference still in progress that the site of the attack on Pearl Street is now safe, after it was scoured by bomb-sniffing dogs last night.
FBI appeals to public for more witness accounts and video
The FBI Special agent in charge Mark Michalek said at the ongoing news conference in Boulder that the bureau has already interviewed 44 witnesses and is asking the public to come forward with any additional witness accounts or visual evidence.
Boulder county DA says 16 unused Molotov cocktails were recovered after attack
The Boulder County district attorney, Michael Dougherty, just said that there were 16 unused Molotov cocktails recovered by officers in the aftermath of the attack.
Dougherty explained that his office will be prosecuting the suspect for 16 counts of attempted murder and other charges in parallel to the federal hate crimes prosecution.
If convicted, Soliman would be jailed for the rest of his life, with a cumulative of over 600 years.
He also said that there were 12 victims in total.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman charged with a federal hate crime, US attorney says
A news conference on the Boulder attack just started with a statement from acting US Attorney for the District of Colorado, J. Bishop Grewell.
The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, has been charged with a federal hate crime, Grewell said.
He added that Soliman claimed to have been planning the attack for a year on what he called a “Zionist group” demonstrating in support of Israelis held hostage in Gaza.
Grewell also said that Soliman told investigators that he had resorted to Molotov cocktails when he had been unable to buy a gun.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman learned how to make Molotov cocktails from YouTube, according to FBI affidavit
In the affidavit filed on Sunday in support of a hate crimes charge against Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an FBI agent reported that the suspected attacker told officers he used YouTube to research how to make the Molotov cocktails he allegedly used to attack demonstrators marching in Boulder, Colorado, in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The affidavit also says that Soliman yelled “Free Palestine!” as he hurled two Molotov cocktails at the marchers and had a plastic container with 14 more unlit Molotov cocktails when he was arrested.
MIT class president barred from graduation after speaking out on Gaza
Anna Betts
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) barred its 2025 class president from attending her graduation ceremony on Friday after she delivered a speech during a commencement event the day before condemning Israel’s war in Gaza and criticizing the university’s ties to Israel.
The student, Megha Vemuri, spoke at MIT’s OneMIT commencement on Thursday in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wearing a keffiyeh over her graduation gown, she praised student protests against the war in Gaza and condemned MIT’s ties to Israel.
“As scientists, engineers, academics and leaders, we have a commitment to support life, support aid efforts and call for an arms embargo and keep demanding now, as alumni, that MIT cuts the ties [to Israel]” Vemuri said during her speech.
The day so far
Much of the day has focused on the fallout from an attack in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday that injured eight people at a rally raising awareness for Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, has been charged with a federal hate crime and multiple other felonies after he allegedly used a makeshift flamethrower and incendiary devices to attack the crowd. Soliman is alleged to have shouted “Free Palestine” as he attacked the crowd. The FBI said he told police he planned the attack for a year and had specifically targeted what he described as the “Zionist group”. According to an FBI affidavit, he also said he would do it again. He is due to appear in court at 1.30pm local time (3.30pm ET), while state and federal officials will hold a press conference this afternoon (2.30pm local time / 4.30pm ET) to announce state and federal charges against him.
Lawmakers across the political divide have condemned the violence and antisemitism and called for unity, whereas the Trump administration has seized upon the attack to make the case for Trump’s aggressive and highly contentious immigration policy. Multiple news outlets reported that Soliman is an Egyptian national who entered the country in August 2022 on a B-2 visa that expired in February 2023. Officials said he was granted a work authorization in March 2023, which expired at the end of March this year, more than two months into Trump’s presidency. He had filed for asylum in September 2022, according to the DHS. Though he overstayed his visa, NBC News noted, he had not yet exhausted all legal routes to staying in the US.
Elsewhere:
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The Trump administration asked a US appeals court to pause a second court ruling that found the president had exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on imports, saying the decision jeopardizes trade negotiations with other nations.
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The head of Ice defended his agency’s decision to arrest an 18-year-old Massachusetts high school student on his way to volleyball practice, saying: “He’s in this country illegally and we’re not going to walk away from anybody.”
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China has accused the US of “seriously violating” and undermining the agreements reached in Geneva in May, and the consensus between Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s president, in their January phone call. Following Trump administration claims last week that China had not delivered on promises to roll back restrictions on the export of key critical minerals to the US, China has said it was in fact the US that has breached the agreement Trump and Xi made in a January phone call, by damaging China’s interests through moves including limiting chip exports and going after Chinese students.
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It was also reported that a direct conversation between Trump and Xi could take place as soon as this week.
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The Trump administration asked the supreme court to halt a judicial order blocking mass job cuts and the restructuring of agencies. 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.
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Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders faced chilling levels of hate in 2024, a new survey found, reflecting the impact of a divisive presidential election year that included historic representation and rampant anti-immigrant rhetoric. The report by Stop AAPI Hate, found that 53% of respondents said they experienced a race-based hate act in 2024, a small rise from 49% in 2023. Incidents ranged from bullying at school and workplace discrimination to harassment and physical violence.
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More than a dozen National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offices along the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico coast are understaffed as the US plunges into an expected active season for ruinous storms. There is a lack of meteorologists in 15 of the regional weather service offices along the coastline from Texas to Florida, as well as in Puerto Rico – an area that takes the brunt of almost all hurricanes that hit the US. Several offices, including in Miami, Jacksonville, Puerto Rico and Houston, lack at least a third of all the meteorologists required to be fully staffed.
The aftermath of the Boulder attack – in pictures
Trump administration seeks pause of second tariff case after loss
The Trump administration has asked a US appeals court to pause a second court ruling that found the president had exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on imports, saying the decision jeopardizes trade negotiations with other nations, Reuters reports.
Trump’s tariffs were first declared illegal by the Manhattan-based US Court of International Trade on 28 May. A federal court in Washington followed with a second ruling the next day, which also found that the tariffs exceeded the president’s authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law intended to address “unusual and extraordinary” threats during national emergencies.
The lawsuits which led to those rulings challenged Trump’s use of the law to justify the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs on imports imposed in early April on most US trading partners, as well as a separate set of tariffs levied on China, Mexico and Canada in February.
The Trump administration has already won a temporary pause of the first court loss, allowing it to reinstate tariffs during the early stages of the appeal. The court is expected to rule on the Trump administration’s request for a longer-term pause later this month.
The second ruling, from US district judge Rudolph Contreras had less immediate impact than the Court of International Trade ruling, because it only stopped the Trump administration from collecting tariffs from two small businesses that had sued whereas the trade court ruling blocked the tariffs that had been challenged broadly. But it contained a more direct finding that IEEPA simply does not authorize tariffs, going further than the more nuanced ruling in the Court of International Trade.
A blunt ruling that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs undercuts Trump’s ability to use tariffs as a “credible threat” in trade talks, the Department of Justice wrote in an emergency motion to the US court of appeals for the DC circuit, which has jurisdiction over the DC district court.
Four senior Trump officials, including secretary of state Marco Rubio and US trade representative Jamieson Greer had submitted affidavits to Contreras before his 29 May ruling, saying that stopping the tariffs would threaten the United States’ economic and national security by jeopardizing “delicate” trade negotiations with dozens of other nations.
The small businesses that brought the lawsuit, educational toy makers Learning Resources Inc and hand2mind, said they would oppose the Trump administration’s attempt to block the lower court ruling.
Top immigration officials defend arrest of Massachusetts high school student
The head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has defended his agency’s decision to arrest a Massachusetts high school student on his way to volleyball practice, saying: “He’s in this country illegally and we’re not going to walk away from anybody.”
Todd Lyons, the acting director of Ice, made those comments as reporters asked him during an event in Boston to explain why authorities on Saturday arrested 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, who has been in the United States since 2012.
The Brazilian’s arrest sparked a massive protest on Sunday in the Boston suburb of Milford, where he lives, and a demand for information about the incident from Democratic governor Maura Healey, who said she was “disturbed and outraged.”
Reuters reports that Lyons spoke about Gomes’ arrest while announcing the results of an immigration enforcement surge in Massachusetts that resulted in nearly 1,500 people being taken into custody last month as part of Donald Trump’s hardline effort to ramp up mass deportations.
Lyons and Patricia Hyde, the acting field director of Ice enforcement and removal operations in Boston, said Gomes was not the target of the investigation that led to his arrest and that authorities instead were seeking his father, who remains at large. “So obviously, he isn’t the father of the year because he brought his son up here illegally as well,” Lyons said.
The Milford high school student had been driving his father’s vehicle when he was arrested following a traffic stop, Lyons said. He said that when authorities encounter someone in the country illegally, “we will take action on that”.
“We’re doing the job that Ice should have been doing all along,” he said. “We enforce all immigration laws.”
A federal judge issued an emergency order on Sunday preventing authorities from transferring Gomes out of Massachusetts for at least 72 hours in response to a lawsuit arguing he was unlawfully detained.
The lawsuit said that Gomes entered the United States on a student visa. While his student visa status has lapsed, the lawsuit said he is eligible for and intends to apply for asylum.
China accuses US of ‘seriously violating’ trade truce
Amy Hawkins
Here’s more on that from my colleague Amy Hawkins.
China has accused the US of “seriously violating” the fragile US-China detente that has been in place for less than a month since the two countries agreed to pause the trade war that risked upending the global economy.
China and the US agreed on 12 May to pause for 90 days the skyrocketing “reciprocal” tariffs that both countries had placed on the others goods in a frenzied trade war that started a few weeks earlier. Tariffs had reached 125% on each side, which officials feared amounted to virtual embargo on trade between the world’s two biggest economies.
Donald Trump had hailed the pause as a “total reset” of US-China relations. But since then, trade negotiations have faltered, with the US complaining that China has not delivered on promises to roll back restrictions on the export of key critical minerals to the US. The US president said on Friday that China had “totally violated” the agreement.
The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Sunday:
What China is doing is they are holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe. And that is not what a reliable partner does.
During the period of aggressive retaliatory trade measures between the US and China in April, China had restricted the export of certain rare earth minerals and magnets, which are critical for US manufacturing.
The restrictions were expected to be relaxed after the 12 May agreement but the process appears to have been patchy at best. Now, US companies, particularly car manufacturers, are reportedly running out of magnets.
China hit back on Monday, accusing the US of violating and undermining the agreements reached in Geneva in May, and the consensus between Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s president, on their 17 January phone call.
China’s commerce ministry said on Monday:
The US has successively introduced a number of discriminatory restrictive measures against China, including issuing export control guidelines for AI chips, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and announcing the revocation of Chinese student visas.
The ministry said China “is determined to safeguard its rights and interests” and denied the accusation from the US that it had undermined the 12 May agreement.
The US has indicated that another Xi-Trump call is expected soon.
Earlier we reported that Donald Trump is expected to speak directly with Chinese president Xi Jinping “in the coming days”. While this could still happen, Bloomberg reports (paywall) that China has lashed out today after Trump accused China of “totally violating” its initial trade deal last week, potentially “dimming the prospect of an immediate leadership call”.
Indeed, per Politico: “China said it was in fact the US that has breached the agreement Trump and Xi made in a January phone call. And from limiting chip exports to going after Chinese students, the US ‘insists on its own way and continues to damage China’s interests’, the commerce ministry said, threatening counter-measures.
“China’s crackdown on rare earth exports two months ago is starting to bite for US automakers in particular, which may have to start limiting production in a matter of days, the New York Times (paywall) reports. With China still not pulling back on the magnet restrictions, the US and Europe have this supply-chain Achilles’ heel exposed.”
Officials to hold news conference to announce charges against Boulder attack suspect
Boulder district attorney Michael Dougherty and acting United States attorney for the district of Colorado, Bishop Grewell, will hold a news conference at 2.30pm MDT (4.30pm ET), according to the Department of Justice.
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.
