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06_05_25MMHeadlinenews Jackie Sedley
Pearl Street Attack: 15 Victims, Suspect In Court, Deportation Blocked
The man accused of attacking peaceful protestors with Molotov cocktails on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall last Sunday is scheduled to make another court appearance this afternoon.
45-year old Mohamed Soliman has a formal filing of charges today at the Boulder County Jail courthouse. He has already been charged with a federal hate crime in connection with the attacks on members of the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives. The group has been holding weekly walks on the mall to raise awareness of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
New charges against Soliman are expected to include attempted first degree murder, according to the Denver Post.
The number of victims in the attack is now up to eight women and seven men, plus a dog. The fifteen people range in ages from 25 to eighty-eight. Previous counts included twelve people.
Yesterday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the deportation of Soliman’s wife and children. They were taken into custody by Immigration officials Tuesday, and initial reports were that their deportations were being expedited. U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher also ordered the government not to remove any of the family from Colorado. That will preserve the court’s jurisdiction.
Taishya Adams Doesn’t Sign
A member of the Boulder City Council, meanwhile, is defending her decision not to sign a statement condemning Sunday’s attack on the Pearl Street Mall.
Taishya Adams was the only council member who did not sign the official City of Boulder statement, a decision that is itself drawing condemnation.
The city statement characterized the attack on the peaceful demonstration in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza as a, quote, “targeted, anti-Semitic attack,” according to Boulder Reporting Lab.
Adams said she didn’t sign the statement because it made it sound like antisemitism and anti-Zionism are the same thing. It would have been more accurate, she said, to describe the attack as anti-Zionist. That’s because the suspect told investigators, after his arrest, that he wanted to kill all Zionist people, according to the arrest warrant.
Adams told the Reporting Lab she was still reeling from a trip to Palestine, where she personally observed horrific conditions. She said in a statement released on Tuesday that she is in full solidarity with her fellow council members in condemning Sunday’s Pearl Street Mall attack, and that her heart is with the victims, their families, and Boulder’s Jewish community.
DPS Seeks Lawsuit Dismissal
Denver Public Schools (DPS) is trying to get two lawsuits filed by former deans dismissed.
The suits, filed by Eric Sinclair and Wayne Mason, relate to a March 2023 shooting on campus. Both former deans were shot and injured by the 17-year-old student, who later took his own life. The lawsuits criticize the school district for what they claim was a preventable tragedy, citing systemic failures in safety policies and practices.
DPS recently argued that while some risk may have been predictable due to the student’s history with guns, the district can’t be held legally liable because staff didn’t think any risk was immediate.
Twelfth Colorado Measles Case
The number of reported measles cases in Colorado this year is now up to twelve.
The Denver Post is reporting that a Denver man who flew on a Turkish Airlines flight last month has tested positive for measles, and may have gotten it from being on the plane. The flight landed at Denver International Airport on May 14th.
The new patient is a vaccinated adult. The Post, citing the city’s Department of Public Health and Environment, says the patient is recovering at home.
At the same time, public health officials in El Paso County confirmed a new case there Monday night. In that case, the patient is also a vaccinated adult who was at the DIA on May 14. At least seven cases of measles are linked to the DIA on that date, when an out-of-state traveler landed on Turkish Airlines, stayed overnight at a nearby hotel, and flew out on a domestic flight the next day.
Measles is a highly contagious virus. It can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis, or even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
