The Justice Department haschargeda man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a group of people demonstrating in Boulder, Colorado, in support of Israeli hostages with committing hate crimes.
The indictment comes days after a federal judge in the state said the department could proceed with hate crimes charges against the man, Mohamed Sabry Soliman.
On June 1, prosecutors say, Soliman hurled Molotov cocktails at the group, injuring at least eight people. Investigators say he planned the attack for a year and was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people.”
In a recent hearing, Soliman’s defense attorney David Kraut argued that Soliman sought to target the protesting group because of their political views – their assumed support for the nation of Israel and the political movement of Zionism – and not because members of the group were Jewish. An attack motivated by someone’s political views is not considered a hate crime under federal law.
The judge acknowledged there may be holes in the prosecutor’s case, but said that at this stage, the government gets the benefit of the doubt on questions about evidence.
This story is breaking and will be updated.