A man in Denver, Colorado, accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a group of demonstrators supporting Israeli hostages in Boulder pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges on Friday. Mohamed Sabry Soliman faces 12 hate crime counts for the June 1 attack, where he allegedly tried to kill eight people with the Molotov cocktails. His attorney, David Kraut, entered the not guilty plea during a brief hearing, with the possibility of a plea agreement in the future. Soliman, appearing in court in a jail uniform with a bandaged hand from injuries during the attack, listened to the proceedings with the help of an Arabic interpreter. Investigators say Soliman confessed to intending to harm the demonstrators and posed as a gardener to get close to them before the attack. He is also facing state charges for attempted murder and other offenses. Prosecutors argue that the victims were targeted based on their national origin. Soliman, an Egyptian national living illegally in the U.S., is being represented by public defenders who do not comment on the case to the media. Defense attorney Kraut contends that the attack was not a hate crime but driven by opposition to Zionism, which is not considered a hate crime under federal law.
