Donald Trump has blamed the flamethrower attack in Boulder on Joe Biden, claiming that the suspect in custody had entered the U.S. under the former president’s “ridiculous open border policy.”
“Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America,” the president fumed on Truth Social.
It comes after the suspect of the attack, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was charged with a federal hate crime “involving actual or perceived race, religion, or national origin.”
Soliman, an Egyptian national, was in the U.S. illegally, the Department of Homeland Security said previously. He entered the U.S. in August 2022 as a non-immigrant visitor and was later granted a two-year work authorization in March 2023 – which expired this year.
In his post, Trump continued: “[Soliman] came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly. He must go out under ‘TRUMP’ Policy. Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law.”
“This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland. My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!”
The president hurled similar blame, baselessly, at the Biden administration’s immigration policy in the aftermath of the New Year’s Eve attack in New Orleans.
Other members of the Trump administration echoed the president’s words following Sunday’s attack, with Homeland Security Advisor Steven Miller stating that “suicidal migration must be fully reversed.”
“A terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado by an illegal alien,” Miller wrote on X.
“He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit.”
Republican firebrand and Colorado representative Lauren Boebert responded to Miller’s post, writing simply: “Illegal.”
The FBI previously said that the incident was a “targeted terror attack,” with the victims all being part of “Run For Their Lives” a Jewish advocacy group calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas
In the bureau’s affidavit filed on Monday, Soliman reportedly described the group as “Zionist,” and had planned the attack for over a year. Following his arrest he told investigators that he would do it again.
He said in his interview that his goal was to “kill all Zionists,” the FBI said, and that he intentionally targeted the group and knew they would be assembled on Sunday afternoon.
“He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack,” the affidavit says.
Law enforcement also found more than a dozen unlit Molotov cocktails near where Soliman was arrested. The devices were made up of glass wine carafe bottles or jars with clear liquid and red rags hanging out of the them, the FBI said. Inside his car, law enforcement found papers with the words “Israel,” “Palestine,” and “USAID,” the affidavit says.
