STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The man arrested for throwing firebombs at people in Boulder, Colorado, says he, quote, "wanted to kill Zionist people" and that he'd do it again.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Authorities say Mohamed Sabry Soliman threw Molotov cocktails at people marching in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. He's now facing a federal hate crime charge and multiple felonies.
INSKEEP: Colorado Public Radio's Allison Sherry is covering this story. Good morning.
ALLISON SHERRY, BYLINE: Hello, Steve.
INSKEEP: Who is the person who made that statement?
SHERRY: We know he's 45 years old. He's an Egyptian national who lived in Kuwait for almost 20 years before coming to the U.S. three years ago on a tourist visa. According to the Department of Homeland Security, that visa has since expired, but he says he had requested asylum and that was pending. He didn't have legal status, though.
INSKEEP: Well, do authorities know if he acted alone?
SHERRY: That's what police believe so far, at least. He told them he'd been planning the attack for a year and that he told no one about it. He actually waited for his high school daughter's graduation and then did it. He had five children and a wife. He lived in Colorado Springs. He left them a journal and a phone with messages for them. And the Feds on Monday say they've talked to 44 people, searched the house and digital devices, but we don't have much information about what they've found yet. Mr. Soliman also tried to buy a gun late last year, but he wasn't able to because of his immigration status, so he learned on YouTube how to make Molotov cocktails and use those in the attack.
INSKEEP: I guess authorities also have this statement that he has made. What does that tell you about him?
SHERRY: In the state affidavit that was unsealed Monday afternoon, he said he was planning to kill himself, that he had doused himself in gasoline. But he obviously didn't do that. He also only threw two of his 18 incendiary devices that he made, and he stopped because he says he hadn't ever hurt anyone. But we also know that police arrived very quickly, and he was arrested within a few minutes. And there were people there also trying to intervene almost immediately.
INSKEEP: Right. Did authorities know about this person or about his intent beforehand?
SHERRY: No, he wasn't on the radar of the Feds or the Joint Terrorism Task Force here. And on the other side of this, Boulder police told me they weren't providing any security for the local members of the Run for Their Lives group who were marching Sunday because they hadn't asked for it. This group had been meeting since October in Boulder, just a few mostly older people who marched every week in support of the Israeli hostages. And apparently, no one thought there was much danger on the pedestrian mall in Boulder on any given weekend. There are often protests there for all kinds of things.
And I do want to note that for Boulder - this is a very small community towards the mountains outside of Denver - this town's had kind of an outsized number of bad events in recent years. The local DA, Michael Dougherty, who filed the state charges against Mr. Soliman, said as much yesterday.
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MICHAEL DOUGHERTY: This community has experienced too many tragedies - fires, floods and mass attacks. But each time, I've seen this great community respond with strength, resilience and support for one another. I trust and hope that that will happen again now.
INSKEEP: What do authorities do with the suspect next?
SHERRY: Well, we expect more charges to be filed in the coming days, reflecting the higher number of victims, both in federal and state court. He's in jail for now and has another court appearance on Thursday.
INSKEEP: And I guess we should mention, when you say "the higher number of victims," authorities have added four to the number of people injured. The original number was eight. Thanks so much. Really appreciate your help.
SHERRY: Thanks, Steve.
INSKEEP: That's Allison Sherry of Colorado Public Radio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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