The wife of Mohamed Soliman, the man charged with a hate crime after the June 1 firebomb attack on marchers in Boulder, released her first public statement on the situation Wednesday. 

Hayam El Gamal and her five children have been detained since June 3 in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Dilley (Texas) Detention Center and are now fighting their deportation case in the Western District of Texas, according to previous Gazette reporting. 

Judge sides with family of Boulder attack suspect

“My five children and I are in total shock over what they say my husband did in Boulder, Colorado, earlier this month,” El Gamal stated in an email provided by her attorney, Eric Lee. “So many lives were ruined on that day. There is never an excuse for hurting innocent people.”

“We send our love to the many families who are suffering as a result of the attack.”

During a preliminary hearing Wednesday, a federal judge in Denver decided to move forward with a federal hate crime charge against Soliman, who is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a group of peaceful protesters, injuring 15 people and a dog, in Boulder earlier this month. 

A full courtroom faced the defendant, who sat emotionless on the edge of the courtroom, at his federal preliminary hearing, during which Judge Kathryn Starnella decided there was probable cause to proceed with the case.

The decision came after about two hours of debate between the prosecution, on behalf of the United States, and the defense, on behalf of Soliman, over whether Soliman’s crime targeted a group of people based on the “national origin” category to qualify it as a hate crime.

El Gamal said the family has been cooperating with law enforcement, who are “trying their best to get to the bottom of this.” 

Lee, in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the family asking to halt deportation efforts, has said the children are “not doing OK” as they remain in custody for two weeks and counting.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty on Wednesday stated in an email, “I remain laser-focused on prosecuting the criminal case and upholding the rule of law. We will work tirelessly to ensure justice is done. Our office is not involved in any immigration case, including this one. We will continue to monitor it.”

In El Gamal’s statement, she said her oldest daughter marked her 18th birthday in custody. 

“We are grieving, and we are suffering. We are treated like animals by the officers, who told us we are being punished for what my husband is accused of doing,” El Gamal stated. “But why punish me? Why punish my 4-year-old children? Why punish any of us, who did nothing wrong?”

Terror on Pearl Street: How the attack in Boulder unfolded

Later in the statement, El Gamal said her children can’t sleep, they cry throughout the day and continuously ask her when “they get to go home.”

According to previous Gazette reporting, Soliman, his wife and children first came to the U.S. on Aug. 27, 2022, on a B2 tourist visa that expired the following February. On Sept. 29, 2022, Soliman filed for asylum, listing his wife and five children as dependents, in Denver. 

In El Gamal’s statement, she said the family “tried to do everything right,” including learning English and then teaching it to other immigrants. El Gamal states that her oldest daughter has goals of becoming a doctor and maintained a 4.5 grade-point average. 

The June 12 order by a Denver judge that moved the family’s case to Texas also revealed El Gamal is a network engineer with a pending EB-2 visa, which is available to “professionals with advanced degrees.”

The day after the Boulder attack, Gazette reporters went to the home of the Soliman family in unincorporated Cimarron Hills, which borders the east edge of Colorado Springs. One neighbor of the family said El Gamal would occasionally cook food and share it with her family while their children played. 

“We have always tried to be good neighbors, cooking food for those around us regardless of whether they are Muslim, Christian or Jewish,” El Gamal stated. “I do not judge anyone based on his religion. If your heart is good, that’s enough.”

El Gamal sheds light on what her experience in custody has been like, from feeling like her and her children are treated like animals to being “forced to watch officials rough up another detainee.” 

“We are here, in jail in Texas, where you can’t be human. Where you are always being watched,” El Gamal said. “Where you are woken up in the middle of the night by guards and given food fit for animals.”

The mother and wife ends her statement by pleading with the American public to “listen to our story and help us.” 

“How much longer will we be here for something we didn’t do? How much longer until the damage to my children is irreversible?” El Gamal stated.

“I ask the American people, with all my heart, to please listen to our story and help us.”

According to Lee, the family’s asylum claim is still pending. He was unable to speak on what the basis of the asylum claim is.

The Gazette reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on El Gamal’s statements but did not receive an immediate response. 

It remains unclear when the Soliman family will have its day in court in Texas. In addition to El Gamal’s statement, Lee confirmed the Texas judge in the case granted an extension of the temporary restraining order issued by a Denver judge. El Gamal and her children cannot be removed from the U.S. until their case is heard. 

Of the 118 counts Soliman faces on the state level, 62 were for crimes committed against the victims. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver also is charging Soliman with a hate crime, which, if he is convicted, could result in life in prison.

Boulder attack suspect charged by state with 118 counts

Soliman faces 118 state charges and a federal hate crime charge for his alleged actions in Boulder on June 1. His next state court appearance is scheduled for July 15.