A federal judge ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release the family of the man who police say and injured 14 others in a firebombing attack on Boulder’s Pearl Street mall last year.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth S. Chestney approved the release of Hayam El Gamal, the wife of Mohamed Soliman, and their five children on Monday, with the stipulation that the family appear at future immigration hearings. A hearing is set for Thursday in a San Antonio courtroom to determine whether both parties will accept the order.
The family was detained by immigration agents on June 3, two days after the Pearl Street attack. Immigration officials and the White House said the family was going to be deported before a judge . The family has been at a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, for 10 months.
Eric Lee, the family’s attorney, said ICE has denied the family medical attention. El Gamal was taken to the emergency room in early April, after pain from a growth on her chest worsened, and her 5-year-old child hasn’t been allowed to go to the dentist for 13 cavities, Lee .
“We are concerned that the systematic denial of medical attention may result in her death. Her children are extremely worried about their mother, who is now their only guardian,” Lee wrote.
On Monday, Lee that he was thrilled to report the family’s petition had been granted.
Soliman , including two counts of first-degree murder, dozens of counts of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault, according to online court records, and a , including nine hate crimes, in connection with the June 1 attack.
Karen Diamond, 82, died on June 25 because of third-degree burns and related complications that she sustained in the attack, according to the Boulder County Coroner’s Office.
Diamond was among the 29 people attacked in the Pearl Street firebombing. Officials initially said 15 people — including Diamond — and the dog were burned in the attack. The District Attorney’s office later identified 14 additional victims of the attack, which included people who suffered injuries while fleeing the attack and people who were not physically harmed, but were close enough to the attack to be victims of attempted murder.
Witnesses told police they saw Soliman throwing Molotov cocktails at people who had gathered on the popular pedestrian mall for a weekly demonstration urging the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Soliman told investigators the attack was revenge because the demonstrators did not care about Palestinian hostages and supported the deaths of Palestinians, according to an affidavit. He told police he wanted “to kill all Zionist people,” according to another arrest affidavit.
Soliman planned the attack for more than a year and initially sought to carry out a mass shooting against the group, law enforcement officials said. He instead armed himself with Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower — made from a weed sprayer — after he could not buy a gun because of his immigration status.
Department of Homeland Security officials have said Soliman overstayed his tourist visa and remained in the U.S. illegally.
Soliman is scheduled for a two-week trial on the state charges, planned for July 13 to 24, with jury selection starting on July 10. He is also scheduled for a motions hearing ahead of that trial on May 7.
He remains in custody in the Jefferson County Jail, according to online jail records. Soliman is being held in Jefferson County on a U.S. Marshals Service hold, according to Jefferson County Sheriff’s spokesperson Jacki Kelley.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office contracts with the Marshals Service so it can hold inmates charged with federal crimes upon request, Kelley said. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office does not have such a contract, and does not house Marshals Service inmates, according to spokesperson Carrie Haverield.
In the federal case, a four-week trial is set to begin at 9 a.m. on Nov. 30 in the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse in Denver.
Updated at 7:09 p.m. April 20, 2026: This article was updated to correct the name of the judge who ordered the release of Hayam El Gamal and her family from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth S. Chestney ordered their release.
