Overview
- Mohamed Sabry Soliman changed his plea to guilty on Oct. 29, 2026 to nine federal hate‑crime counts, including a hate crime resulting in death, and three explosives charges.
- Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers are asking a judge to sentence Soliman to life in prison plus 50 years when he is sentenced on Jan. 7, 2027, and the Justice Department declined to seek the death penalty.
- Soliman is already serving a state sentence of life without parole after pleading guilty in May 2026 to more than 100 charges, including first‑degree murder, for the June 1, 2025 attack on Pearl Street Mall.
- Prosecutors say Soliman planned the attack for about a year, disguised himself as a gardener, carried many makeshift incendiary devices, yelled 'Free Palestine,' used two Molotov cocktails and a spray‑bottle flame device, and told police he aimed to kill 'Zionist' people.
- The attack burned and wounded many people and an injured 82‑year‑old victim, Karen Diamond, died weeks later; the case has also prompted separate immigration proceedings for Soliman’s ex‑wife and children and has drawn national attention to bias‑motivated violence since the Oct. 7, 2023 conflict.