(The Center Square) – The family of the suspect in the Boulder, Colo. “terror attack” have been given a reprieve from “immediate” deportation after a federal judge blocked their deportation order.
Judge Gordon Gallagher of the U.S. District Court of Colorado ordered the Department of Homeland Security to halt the deportation of the wife and five children of Mohamed Soliman, an Egyptian national charged in Sunday’s firebombing.
The family members of Soliman were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Tuesday. At the time, the White House claimed the family members could be deported immediately.
However, Gallagher granted a request from the family to block their deportation, citing due process.
“The court finds that deportation without process could work irreparable harm and an order must issue without notice due to the urgency this situation presents,” the judge wrote in his order.
None of the family members have been charged in connection to the attack, which left 12 people injured.
The FBI said Soliman used a “makeshift flame thrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd” during a pro-Israel event organized by Run for Their Lives. The group was advocating for the return of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on a Jewish music festival in Gaza.
In a social media post on Tuesday afternoon, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Soliman’s family is also under investigation.
“We’re also investigating to what extent his family knew about this horrific attack, if they had any knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it,” Noem said.
Following the attack, DHS confirmed that Soliman had overstayed his visa and had remained in the country “illegally.”
“He entered the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023. He filed for asylum in September 2022,” according to Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security.
According to reports, Soliman was heard yelling, “Free Palestine” during the attack.
Soliman reportedly told law enforcement that “he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead.”
“At least 14 unlit Molotov cocktails and a backpack weed sprayer, potentially containing a flammable substance, were found nearby,” according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Colorado.
Soliman faces multiple felony charges in addition to a federal hate crime charge. He is being held in the Boulder County Jail on a $10 million bond. Soliman could face hundreds of years behind bars if convicted on all charges.
