By Adrian Calamel 6/14/2025

When Mohamed Sabry Soliman disguised himself as a gardener in Colorado then proceeded to throw petrol bombs at a peaceful walk in solidarity with Israeli hostages many were quick to connect his motivations to the conflict in Gaza. Yelling “Free Palestine” and “End Zionists” pushed attention to the conflict, but the war raging in the Middle East was just a trigger that aligned with his Muslim Brotherhood ideology, the base of his motivation.

One of the most frustrating parts of this case is the lack of information around Soliman besides growing up in Egypt, immigrating to Kuwait at twenty-five where he spent seventeen years before entering the United States on a tourist visa. A month after Soliman arrived with his wife and five children he immediately applied for asylum which should have triggered some questions about why he believed it was unsafe to return to Egypt and why he chose America. Was it because he had previously praised the Muslim Brotherhood on social media with an image of the deposed Mohamed Morsi or was it because Soliman was in fact a member of the Brotherhood, which is active in Kuwait. His concerns related to Egypt may have some foundation if he openly supported a “political group” that was inches away from seizing control of the country but is now designated as a terrorist organization by the government. Soliman may have chosen the United States as millions have over the years, a better life in a “land of opportunity” and even claimed he postponed the attack until his daughter graduated from high school. Lack of information and a narrative shaped by the press that this was a revenge attack brought on by Israel obscured the true motivation and a far greater concern. The Muslim Brotherhood becomes part of an individual’s DNA in many households and especially in its birthplace of Egypt, constant indoctrination through media outlets, mosques, households…. Soliman already hated Jewish people before he arrived in Kuwait and may have hated America but saw it as an opportunity to get wealthy from the “enemy”. The average American still does not understand that Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the former designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the latter normalized by President Obama.

Soliman was a ticking time bomb and injured scores of people, however there are more grave concerns if we accept that he was not a card-carrying member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Ikhwan (MB) worldview is incompatible with the West, the movement’s premier ideologue Sayyed Qutb who called for our destruction inspired Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, ISIS and every Islamist terror organization. We should be thankful Soliman could not acquire a gun because of his immigration status, or the death toll could have been significant, but what happens when a true believer with American citizenship decides to bring the war to the homeland, or a cell, or an entire network. Policy and law enforcement agencies need to understand the Muslim Brotherhood has spawned some of the most depraved individuals and terror organizations, they should not be treated as a benign political organization only looking to advance the cause of Muslims around the world.