Boulder suspect's family detained by ICE, set for expedited removal, Kristi Noem says
Family members of the man charged with Sunday's attack in Boulder, Colorado, have been taken into custody, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday.
Noem made the announcement on X, calling the suspect, Mohamed Soliman, an "illegal alien" and "terrorist." He is facing multiple counts of attempted murder and a federal hate crimes charge for the attack that injured more than a dozen people at a march supporting Israeli hostages.
"We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it," Noem said. "I am continuing to pray for the victims of this attack and their families. Justice will be served."
A DHS official said six people — Soliman's wife and children — were taken into ICE custody and will now be processed under expedited removal, which allows the government to deport migrants in the U.S. illegally without holding a court hearing.
Soliman is an Egyptian national who arrived in California in 2022 on a non-immigrant visa that expired in 2023, the Department of Homeland Security said. Officials said he filed for asylum in 2022.
The family had been living in Colorado Springs. FBI agents searched the home Monday morning.
At a news conference Monday, Mike Michalek, FBI special agent in charge of the Denver field office, said the family had been cooperative in the investigation so far. Officials said after Soliman was arrested, his wife took her husband's iPhone to the Colorado Springs Police Department.
The 45-year-old Soliman is accused of using Molotov cocktails in Sunday's attack, burning multiple victims, police and the FBI said.
Witnesses told investigators that Soliman yelled "Free Palestine" and "End Zionist" during the attack.
The injured victims include an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor.
The group that came under attack, Run for Their Lives, has been gathering for a walk on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall every week for over a year to raise awareness about the dozens of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Soliman is expected to appear in federal court Friday afternoon.
On Monday, CBS News Colorado investigative reporter Brian Maass reached the woman who identified herself as Soliman's wife.
"We don't want to talk, thank you," she said during a brief phone call. "Respect my situation," she said, and asked not to be contacted again.
One of Soliman's children graduated from high school in Colorado Springs in late May and had been profiled in a newspaper article as one of the "Best and Brightest" area students. She was recognized in high school with numerous honors including for academic excellence and a leadership award.
She had been accepted to college and said her dream was to go to medical school. She told a reporter she was inspired to enter the medical field after her father went through a difficult operation that restored his ability to walk.
Federal immigration records show the wife and children are being held at a federal detention center in Dilley, Texas, designed to house families with minors.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Colorado temporarily blocked federal immigration officials from removing them and set a hearing for June 13.
