A Colorado judge on Thursday sentenced an Egyptian national to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a firebombing attack on a demonstration in Boulder that killed a woman and injured more than a dozen others, according to the Associated Press. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who authorities say was living in the United States illegally, pleaded guilty to first‑degree murder, attempted murder and assault for the June 2025 attack that targeted Jewish community members gathered for a weekly vigil demanding the release of Israelis held captive in Gaza.

Boulder County District Judge Nancy Salomone, before imposing the sentence, directly addressed Soliman’s motives.

“You chose a time and a place and a set of circumstances and weapons that were designed to inflict the most pain that you could,” Salomone told him, the AP reported.

Soliman, speaking through an interpreter, told the court he regretted the attack and said his actions were “not in line with Islamic teaching.” But Salomone made clear the case was about a targeted assault on a specific group.

“You targeted these victims because they were Jewish,” the judge said, the AP reported.

The June 1 attack was carried out on the Pearl Street mall, a downtown pedestrian area of Boulder, a city of 100 000 people about 35 km northwest of Denver. Posing as a gardener, Soliman lit and threw two Molotov cocktails from a box of 18 he had prepared, shouting “Free Palestine,” prosecutors said. The burning accelerant fatally burned Karen Diamond, 82, and injured more than a dozen other people. Diamond died three weeks later in what her sons described as “indescribable pain.” A dog was also injured, leading to an animal cruelty charge.

Beyond the life sentence, Soliman received hundreds of additional years for the dozens of other charges stemming from the 29 victims identified in the case, the AP reported. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty described the crime as “cowardly,” noting that Soliman had first tried to buy a firearm, and when he couldn’t, he “decided to set them on fire.”

Federal authorities allege Soliman began planning the attack a year in advance. An FBI affidavit stated that after his arrest he told police he wanted “to kill all Zionist people,” a sentiment he twice repeated in court,