The wife and five children of the man charged with fire-bombing 12 people at a Colorado event held in support of Israeli hostages have been arrested by US immigration authorities and are being processed to be deported.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said federal officials are looking into whether the family of the suspect, Mohamed Soliman, were involved in the June 1 attack. They are being processed for expedited removal, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman at the department.
The agency is “investigating to what extent his family knew about this horrific attack, if they had any knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it”, Ms Noem said in a video posted on social media.
Mr Soliman, 45, has been charged with throwing two Molotov cocktails into a pro-Israel crowd and using a makeshift flamethrower at the event in Boulder. The suspect yelled “free Palestine” during the attack, according to law enforcement.
He faces a federal hate crime charge and dozens of state charges of attempted murder and attempted use of incendiary devices. An FBI special agent involved in the case said the suspect told investigators he “wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead".
Boulder police said Mr Soliman was born in Egypt and lived in Kuwait for 17 years. He and his family moved to Colorado Springs three years ago. He allegedly told authorities he had been planning the attack for a year, but waited for his daughter to graduate from high school before striking.
Mr Soliman allegedly told law enforcement that he had left an iPhone and a journal behind for his family. An FBI official said agents had executed a search warrant at his home after the attack and that his family members were co-operative.
The Department of Homeland Security said on Monday that Mr Soliman applied for asylum in September 2022, the month after he arrived on a tourist visa. As part of the application process he was approved for a work permit in March 2023, the same month his tourist visa expired.
The department declined to provide the status of his asylum case or whether he had previously faced deportation. The agency did not respond to a request for comment on where his wife and children would be sent.
