Man accused of Colorado demonstration attack to change plea to federal hate crime charges

DENVER (AP) — An Egyptian man is scheduled to change his not guilty plea to federal hate crime and other charges Thursday for a deadly firebombing attack on demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, last year.Mohamed Soliman is already serving life in prison after pleading guilty to state charges last spring.Yelling “Free Palestine,” Soliman lit and threw two Molotov cocktails at the demonstrators who were marching in support of hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.Federal prosecutors accused Soliman of attacking in June 2025 because the demonstrators were Jewish. The flames badly burned Karen Diamond, 82, and injured a dozen others.Diamond died three weeks later. Her family says she suffered “indescribable pain.”The charges Soliman previously pleaded not guilty to in federal court in Denver include nine counts of hate crimes, two of using fire or an explosive to commit a felony and one of carrying an explosive while committing a felony.The charges are punishable by lif