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The Sunday terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, two weeks after two Israeli Embassy employees were killed in Washington, D.C., highlights a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents that have occurred in the United States since 2020.
“The explosion of antisemitism after [Oct. 7, 2023] indicated that it was … bubbling beneath the surface,” Ruthie Blum, senior contributing editor at Jewish News Syndicate and former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Fox News Digital. “There was always some kind of a … flare-up of antisemitic, anti-Israel rhetoric on college campuses, et cetera. But this was an explosion, and it was happening, surprisingly, all over the United States.”
Blum added that recent antisemitic events are “a sign of a decaying society.”
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces a federal hate crime charge and state charges of attempted first-degree murder, crimes against at-risk adults/elderly, assault, criminal attempt to commit class one and class two felonies and use of explosives or incendiary devices during a felony in connection with Sunday’s attack, which left eight people dead.
He allegedly threw explosives into a crowd Sunday in Boulder as a pro-Israel group, “Run for Their Lives,” participated in a gathering on Pearl Street advocating for Hamas to release Israeli hostages.
BOULDER TERROR ATTACK LATEST IN ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS RISING ACROSS US IN 2025
While Jewish Americans make up only 2% of the total U.S. population, reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crimes comprised 15% of all hate crimes and 68% of all reported religion-based hate crimes in 2023, which is consistent with patterns from prior years, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
However, data shows a significant recent increase in antisemitic terrorist plots or attacks targeting Jewish people, Zionists or Jewish institutions.
HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AMONG VICTIMS IN BOULDER, COLORADO SUSPECTED TERROR ATTACK
The ADL’s Center on Extremism found of 16 terror plots or attacks targeting Jewish people since January 2020, nine of those incidents occurred within just the past 12 months (July 2024 to June 2025), compared to seven incidents recorded over the previous 54 months (January 2020 to June 2024).
June 1, 2025
Colorado and federal authorities say Soliman executed a “targeted terror attack” that left eight people, ages 52 to 88, with injuries, including one in critical condition. None of the victims have died.
“When he threw the Molotov cocktails, SOLIMAN yelled ‘Free Palestine!’ and the Molotov cocktails ignited in the crowd of people, causing burn injuries to eight individuals,” the federal complaint states.
Inside a vehicle registered to Soliman following the attack, authorities found a “red material consistent with the rags found in the black plastic container; a red gas container; and paperwork with the words, ‘Israel,’ ‘Palestine,’ and ‘USAID,'” according to federal authorities.
SUSPECT IN BOULDER TERROR ATTACK DETERMINED TO BE EGYPTIAN MAN IN US ILLEGALLY: FBI
During an interview with law enforcement after the arrest, Soliman “stated that he researched on YouTube how to make Molotov Cocktails, purchased the ingredients to do so, and constructed them.” He also told authorities “that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” court documents state.
“He specifically targeted the ‘Zionist Group’ that had gathered in Boulder having learned about the group from an online search. SOLIMAN knew that they planned to meet … Sunday, June 1 at 1pm. He arrived at approximately 12:55 p.m. and waited for them. Throughout the interview, SOLIMAN stated that he hated the Zionist group and did this because he hated this group and needed to stop them from taking over ‘our land,’ which he explained to be Palestine. 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 federal complaint says.
May 21, 2025
Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, is charged with the murder of foreign officials, a federal capital offense, along with multiple firearm-related counts and two counts of first-degree murder, after he allegedly killed Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a young couple who worked at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., on a Wednesday evening following an event at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Rodriguez allegedly shot and killed the couple, who were leaving an American Jewish Committee Young Diplomats event at the museum. As he was taken into custody, Rodriguez shouted, “Free, free Palestine,” as seen in a video taken after the attack.
US POLITICIANS, JEWISH GROUPS CONDEMN ‘HORRIFYING’ BOULDER TERROR ATTACK
WATCH: Suspect in DC shooting of Israeli Embassy staff shouts ‘free Palestine’
April 13, 2025
Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and related offenses for allegedly setting fire to Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence on April 13.
In a 911 call allegedly made by Balmer, he admitted that he set multiple fires at the residence because of what Shapiro, who is Jewish, “wants to do to the Palestinian people,” calling the governor a “monster,” according to audio obtained by Fox 29. Balmer also allegedly blamed Shapiro for Palestinian deaths in the Israel-Hamas war.
A warrant details Balmer’s interview with state troopers in which he allegedly admitted to “harboring hatred towards” Shapiro. Balmer also apparently admitted to a trooper that he was responsible for the arson attack and said he planned to attack Shapiro with his hammer if he were to find the governor in the mansion.
Dec. 28, 2024
Gainesville, Florida, man Forrest Pemberton, 26, was arrested for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack against an unnamed pro-Israel organization’s offices in South Florida, according to CBS 12.
Dec. 17, 2024
The FBI arrested 18-year-old George Mason University student Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan of Egypt for allegedly plotting to perpetrate a mass casualty attack at the Israeli consulate in New York City.
Hassan allegedly provided bomb-making instructions and plans on how to attack the Manhattan consulate to an undercover FBI source and is charged with distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction in furtherance of the commission of a federal crime, according to court documents.
BOULDER, COLORADO, SUSPECTED TERROR ATTACK SUSPECT MOHAMED SABRY SOLIMAN FACES MURDER, ASSAULT, OTHER CHARGES
Oct. 26, 2024
Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, a 22-year-old Mauritanian national, allegedly shot and injured a 39-year-old Orthodox Jewish man who was wearing a kippah as he was headed to a synagogue. The suspect then allegedly opened fire on responding police and paramedics.
Abdallahi was found dead of apparent suicide in his jail cell in November 2024, according to Fox 32.
He was facing multiple charges, including terrorism, hate crime, six counts of attempted first-degree murder and seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm at a police officer or firefighter.
Sept. 4, 2024
Canadian officials arrested Pakistani citizen Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, while he was trying to cross the border into the United States, allegedly as part of a planned mass shooting in New York to “murder as many Jewish people as possible, all in support of ISIS,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement at the time.
“The defendant was allegedly determined to kill Jewish people here in the United States, nearly one year after Hamas’s horrific attack on Israel,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the time.
Aug. 14, 2024
Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 44, of Jordan was arrested in August 2024 on suspicion that he sought to target businesses he believed were supportive of Israel. Hnaihen pleaded guilty on Dec. 20, 2024 to four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility.
Hnaihen was living illegally in Orlando, Florida, at the time and was sentenced to serve six years in federal prison for threatening to use explosives and destruction of an energy facility.
July 16, 2024
Federal authorities charged Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old Georgian national, with soliciting hate crimes and mass violence for his alleged plot to recruit others into carrying out a mass casualty attack against Jewish children.
He also allegedly encouraged bombings, arson and poisonings against Jews, racial minorities and homeless people as early as July 2022, according to federal officials.
He is accused of “repeatedly” encouraging others, “primarily via encrypted mobile messaging platforms, to commit violent hate crimes and other acts of violence,” including “conspiring to solicit violent acts with the leader of a separate violent extremist Neo-Nazi group,” the Justice Department said in a press release.
Nov. 29, 2023
Las Vegas police officers arrested a 17-year-old Las Vegas resident, whose name has not been made public due to his age, on incendiary device and terrorism charges after the teenager allegedly plotted to carry out ISIS-inspired “lone wolf operations” in Las Vegas.
“I will be starting lone wolf operations in Las Vegas against the enemies of Allah. I ask you to make Dua for victory,” he apparently wrote in one chatroom message, according to court documents obtained by FOX 5 Las Vegas.
Authorities allegedly found “a floor plan of Chaparral High School, guidebooks, and manuals for constructing explosive or incendiary devices” while searching his home, as well as the components of an explosive device.
Nov. 18, 2022
New York City officials arrested two men, 21-year-old Christopher Brown and 22-year-old Matthew Mahrer, in an effort to stop a “developing threat to the Jewish community.”
The New York Police Department, along with federal authorities, said they uncovered an alleged threat to “shoot up” a synagogue, leading to the two arrests at Penn Station, WNYW-TV reported.
Then-NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said officials also seized “a large hunting knife, an illegal Glock 17 firearm and 30-round magazine, and several other items” during the arrests.
June 17, 2022
Ohio police and the FBI coordinated to arrest a Struthers teenager and self-described White supremacist accused of saying he was going to kill his father, shoot Black people and then conduct a mass shooting at a synagogue during a live-streamed video, according to WKBN.
During their search of the teenager’s resident, police found two loaded handguns along with several loaded magazines with racist and antisemitic symbols and messages on them, as well as a manifesto and 100 rounds of ammunition. Authorities charged the teen with making terrorist threats, domestic violence, inducing panic and threatening violence and possessing criminal tools.
June 10, 2022
New York authorities arrested Matthew Belanger, a Marine Corps veteran originally from Hawaii, on Long Island, after he allegedly plotted to attack a synagogue in New York.
While conducting a search warrant of Belanger’s electronic devices, federal authorities found “approximately 1,950 images, videos and documents related to white power groups, Nazi literature, brutality towards the Jewish community, brutality towards women, rape, mass murderers, firearms, body armor, instructional documents relating to building explosives and/or illegal firearms, violent uncensored executions and/or rape, and communications related to illegally obtained firearms,” according to federal court documents.
Jan. 15, 2022
Officials arrested British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, 44, following an 11-hour standoff at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, during which the suspect held four victims hostage, all of whom were rescued.
Akram could be heard on a Facebook live-stream video demanding the release of an imprisoned Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having ties to al Qaeda. Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2010 of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan, is being held at a federal prison in Fort Worth.
Two teenagers were detained in South Manchester, United Kingdom, at the time in connection with the hostage incident, according to Greater Manchester Police.
BOULDER TERROR ATTACK SUSPECT SAID HE WANTED TO KILL ‘ALL ZIONIST PEOPLE,’ USED MOLOTOV COCKTAILS: FEDS
Oct. 31, 2021
Franklin Barrett Sechriest, 18, pleaded guilty to arson and hate crime charges in connection with a 2021 arson attack on Congregation Beth Israel, and a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
He later apologized in court, saying, “I will never forgive myself,” and promising to “atone” for his actions and denounce “evil ideology,” according to FOX 7 Austin.
Dec. 17, 2021
An Illinois grand jury indicted Brandon Simonson and Kristopher Martin on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, second-degree murder, hate crime and assault for allegedly killing a Jewish inmate at the prison where they were being detained.
Authorities identified the men as members of a White supremacist gang called the Valhalla Bound Skinheads, an Oregon-based White supremacist gang. A federal judge found Simonson guilty in May 2025, and Martin pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Blum noted that the Boulder, Colorado, suspects and others accused of antisemitic attacks are described as “lone-wolf terrorists,” which she disputed.
“Whether or not he actually is affiliated with a particular group or was paid by someone to commit such atrocities, it’s the imbibed the ideology, and he was given permission,” she said. “If … he was not dispatched by Hamas or anybody, even if he gets no financial benefit out of it, he’s an ideologue, and he is acting according to a climate that is all around him.”
Soliman was living in the United States illegally after entering on a work visa two years ago that has since expired, according to federal officials.
He was booked into the Boulder County Jail on Sunday evening and remains held on a $10 million bond.
