The lead suspect in the violent attack on a pro-Israel demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday was in the country illegally, according to a top Department of Homeland Security official.
“The Colorado Terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country,” Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, wrote on X Monday. “He entered the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired [in] February 2023. He filed for asylum in September 2022.”
A B-2 visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows an individual to enter the U.S. temporarily for tourism, to visit family or friends, or for medical treatment.
Soliman, 45, used a makeshift flamethrower and incendiary device as he shouted, “Free Palestine” and attacked a group of people in Boulder who were marching in solidarity with the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Eight people, ranging in age from 52 to 88, were injured in the attack, including two who were airlifted to a hospital in Denver for treatment.
Authorities took Soliman into custody, and the FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terror.
Fox News reports that Soliman is an Egyptian national and arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 27, 2022 and was authorized to stay in the U.S. until Feb. 26, 2023, but overstayed his visa. In September 2022, Fox reports Soliman “filed some sort of claim with [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services], potentially an asylum claim.” On March 29, 2023, the Biden administration gave him work authorization, which expired March 28, 2025.
“The Biden admin granted the alien a visa and then, when he illegally overstayed, they gave him a work permit,” Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, wrote on X.
“Immigration security is national security,” Miller said. “No more hostile migration. Keep them out and send them back.”
“The House Homeland Security Committee is in close contact with DHS and the FBI regarding the heinous, antisemitic terrorist attack that occurred in Colorado,” said Committee Chair Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn.
“Antisemitism and political violence have no place in America,” Green said, adding that attack “is another wake-up call to the heightened terror threat facing the United States—and to the fact that the enemies of freedom are persistent.”
The attack in Boulder comes less than two weeks after two Israel embassy staff members were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
In light of recent antisemitic attacks, Green is requesting DHS brief the Homeland Security Committee as soon as possible.
