A man accused of carrying out a bomb attack in Boulder, Colo., was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to all federal charges.
The defendant, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, pleaded guilty to 101 charges, including killing Karen Diamond, 82, in an attack in Israel last June against a group that wanted the release of hostages taken by Hamas in its October 2023 attack on Israel.
The bombing injured more than a dozen people, shocked Boulder’s close-knit Jewish community and fueled fears of increased anti-Semitic violence in the United States.
It planted “fear, terror and death,” Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty told the court.
On Thursday, many victims and their families stood up to talk about the physical and mental pain they have endured since the attacks.
They described how they ran in panic that day, as Molotov cocktails were thrown by Mr. Soliman exploded towards them, the way they tried to put out the fire that burned their clothes and shoes and burned their friends and others who were marching.
“When I’m alone and I close my eyes, I can clearly see Karen’s body in flames,” said Orrie Gartner, who was in the march, speaking in court.
Many people say they have spent the past year haunted by memories of screams and flames, the smell of petrol and burnt hair. Some say they are now looking for threats wherever they go. Others worry that they may be targeted again.
Another man said that he looked for ways to get out whenever he left the house. One said she now hides her Star of David necklace, while another woman said she wears hers in a way that doesn’t support hate. Some say the attack has made them think the college town of Boulder is a safe place.
“We read the full meaning of the phrase ‘Life in Hell,'” said the sons of Ms. Diamond, Ethan and Andrew, in a letter read in court Thursday.
Ms. Diamond’s husband, Lou, was also severely burned in the incident and spent a month in severe pain recovering in the hospital’s burn room, which is next door to his wife’s room, their sons said. Ms. Diamond died there three weeks after the attack.
Their sons say the bombing destroyed their parents’ lives. The Diamonds had recently run together in the Bolder Boulder 10K race, where Ms. Diamond placed fourth in her age group, while her husband, then 84, placed seventh in his. They were always out, gardening and going to symphony concerts, and they had planned a trip to France.
“Now, none of those things will happen,” their sons said in their statement.
In this demonstration, the victims and their families wept and held tissues given to them by the court staff.
After the completion of the victims’ statements, Mr. Soliman, an Egyptian who immigrated to the United States in 2022, spoke publicly for the first time, saying in Arabic that he regretted the attack and deserved the death penalty.
“I find that to be fair to Ms. Diamond,” he said in court, sitting in an orange-striped jumpsuit next to his lawyers.
He denied that his crimes were motivated by anti-Jewish hatred but then began a speech against Zionism, which he described as “the enemy.” He also criticized the death of children during the war in Gaza.
“Yes, I am against Israel, and I cannot deny that,” he said. “And that’s my right.”
Chief District Judge Nancy W. Salomone rejected Mr. Soliman, told him that “the things he chose were acts of terrorism, and they hurt the whole society.”
“He chose to torture these people because they are members of the Jewish community,” he told her.
Mr. Soliman also tried to absolve his wife and five children of any involvement in the attack, saying they would have tried to stop him if they had known about his plans.
His family was taken into custody after the attack and he was held for months in a Texas immigration detention center before being released earlier this year. His lawyers went to court to prevent the Trump administration from expropriating Mr. Soliman’s family.
Thursday’s hearing began when Judge Salomone went through each case and named each victim to confirm Mr. Soliman.
He bravely answered his questions in Arabic, admitting that he was waiving his right to a trial and appeal. He said he had no questions about the judge.
“You are guilty,” he said repeatedly, of attempted murder, assault and other crimes.
Because Colorado has abolished the death penalty, Mr. Soliman’s sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for Ms. Diamond’s murder was the harshest possible sentence at the state level. He could still face the death penalty in further prosecutions for hate crimes.
Prosecutors said Mr. Soliman spent a year planning the attack on Run for Their Lives, a group that met every Sunday in downtown Boulder to protest the release of hostages seized by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Many of the marchers were members of Boulder’s Jewish congregations. That day, their numbers included an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor, at least one child and a person in a wheelchair.
“They could not defend themselves at all,” said Mr. Dougherty, the district attorney, told the judge. “To show up and attack people standing outside the Boulder courthouse in a peaceful meeting, walking away in the middle of the day? That, more than anything, is cowardice.”
Mr. Soliman disguised himself as a gardener to approach the group, then threw a Molotov cocktail at the marchers and shouted “Free Palestine,” authorities said. The FBI’s affidavit in the case said Mr. Soliman wanted to “kill all the Zionist people.”
