On the one-year anniversary of the deadly attack on the Boulder Run For Their Lives group, CU Boulder’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter praising the perpetrator.
On June 1, 2025, Mohamed Sabry Soliman firebombed a group of people raising awareness of hostages then still being held in Gaza. The attack on public land, on the Pearl Street Mall, killed one woman and left others severly injured.
CU Boulder’s SJP, which lost its official campus recognition in the 2024-2025 academic year, posted on Instagram: “One year ago today, Mohamed Sabry Soliman took direct action against a manifestation of genocidal zionism in our community. We stand with him.” The post has since been removed.
Soliman was recently sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Karen Diamond, 82, and 2,218 years for the deadly attack. In his statement in court, May 7, he called Zionism the mutual enemy of the whole world.
CU Boulder denounced the statement on June 2, telling 9News that “glorification of violence is abhorrent.” The statement also restated that SJP is not a recognized student organization “because it failed to remedy policy violations.”
In 2024, after anti-Semitic graffiti appeared on campus, a spokesperson for the CU system, Christine Mahoney told the IJN that as of Oct. 4, 2024, the campus’ branch of Students for Justice in Palestine, had been placed “in bad standing, which means it can no longer operate as a student organization.
That decision was a result of “alleged violations of the recognized student organization agreement which have led to student conduct investigations,” she said.
Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty, who prosecuted Soliman, reacted June 3 to the Boulder SJP post, calling it “misguided and abhorrent.”
“The firebomber killed an 82-year-old woman, seriously harmed 28 other victims and terrorized an entire community,” said Dougherty. The people that he chose to attack were completely innocent and had done nothing wrong. He burned Karen Diamond — a beloved grandmother, Mom, and wife — to death. The sentence we secured was justice for such an inexcusable, unjustified act of terror and hate against members of our Jewish community.
“I join in the many rational voices condemning their statement as heartless and vile. Thankfully, the law does not justify or excuse a person setting other human beings on fire in an effort to kill them. So, despite their view, he will never be released from prison. My office will continue to stand against hate crimes against the Jewish community and any community.”
In response to the Boulder SJP post, a resolution passed June 4 by the University of Colorado Board of Regents condemned “Anyone who would minimize or condone antisemitic acts of violence. Harming and killing innocent people is not resistance. Those actions do not lead to justice and they should never be celebrated.”
This story was updated June 3 and June 4 to include reaction from the Boulder District Attorney and the CU Board of Regents.
© IJN 2026
