Family of Colorado fire-bomb suspect taken into ICE custody

The family of the Egyptian national charged with tossing gasoline bombs at a rally in Colorado was taken into federal custody on Tuesday and could be quickly deported, officials said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a social media video post that ICE had taken into custody the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who lived in Colorado Springs and who federal officials have said was in the US illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa and an expired work permit.

Noem said while Soliman will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, federal agents were also "investigating to what extent his family knew about this horrific attack – if they had any knowledge of it or if they provided any support for it".

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for more details about the detention of Soliman's family.

According to local media reports, Soliman's family included two teenagers and three younger children. FBI and police officials had said on Monday that the family has cooperated with investigators. The suspect told investigators he acted alone.

The White House, in a social media post, said Soliman's family was in ICE's custody for "expedited removal" and that they "could be deported as early as tonight".

Department of Homeland Security officials said Soliman entered the US in August 2022 on a tourist visa, filed for asylum the following month, and remained in the country after his visa expired in February 2023.

The Sunday attack in Boulder, Colorado, injured a dozen people, many of them elderly. The attack targeted people taking part in an event organised by Run for Their Lives, an organisation devoted to drawing attention to the hostages seized during Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel.