This article has been updated with a response from DHS.
An attorney for the family of Boulder’s Pearl Street attack suspect is demanding the release of his family from ICE custody, where they’ve been held for four months.
Mohamed Soliman was arrested after throwing makeshift Molotov cocktails, or firebombs, at peaceful demonstrators on Boulder’s popular Pearl Street Mall. One person died as a result of the attack, and a dozen more were injured.
The demonstrators met and marched weekly, pushing for the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas.
Soliman and his family lived in El Paso County, and according to the family attorney, the family has been legally in the U.S. since 2022, seeking lawful asylum from Egypt.
On Monday, family immigration attorney Eric Lee filed a petition for habeas corpus, demanding the release of Soliman’s wife, Hayam El Gamal, and her five children. The children are ages four to 18.
During Soliman’s court hearings, the FBI confirmed the family had no involvement in the attack, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) similarly found no evidence, attorneys said.
Eric Lee revealed an immigration judge granted bond for the family on September 19 after determining they weren’t subject to mandatory detention and posed neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk.
According to court documents, DHS filed what’s known as an automatic stay less than an hour later, keeping the family in detention for several months longer unless a federal judge intervenes.
“This is an executive branch which is violating federal judge orders left and right. It is not exactly surprising that they've chosen to pursue this family, which includes children as young as four years old, with the level of vindictiveness that they have,” said Lee. “That's not how things work in a democracy.”
Lee wouldn’t say if the family would return to Colorado if released, but they have a place to stay and would be able to attend future court hearings.
“Our appeal is to the population of the people of Colorado and to the community of Colorado Springs and to Boulder. There's already been enough suffering caused by the attack that took place in early June. This mother and her five children were just as shocked and just as surprised as anybody else,” said Lee. “They have expressed their support and solidarity to the victims of this attack. They themselves are victims. They should be released so that they can deal with the terrible trauma of learning what their husband and father did, out of jail, with each other.”
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the petition for release, or why they are blocking the judge's Sept. 19 order.
In response to the attorney's petition, DHS was defiant in acknowledging the family had no ties to the Boulder attack despite FBI testimony to the contrary.
“Mohammed Soliman, a terrorist responsible for an anti-Semitic firebombing in Boulder, his wife , and their children are in our country illegally and are rightfully in ICE custody," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "This terrorist will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 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. They will remain in custody pending removal proceedings.”
Soliman is facing state and federal charges for the June 1 attack in Boulder.
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