US Politics
Official White House X account targets Boulder attack suspect’s family with deportation threat
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The White House’s official X account posted a tweet threatening to deport the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the man accused of carrying out a terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday.
“Wife and Kids of Illegal Alien Behind Antisemitic Firebombing Could Be Deported as Soon as Tonight,” the account posted on Tuesday, alongside two images of Soliman.
It was accompanied by a caption, complete with an airplane emoji, that read: “Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon.”
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Soliman, 45, was charged with a federal hate crime and 16 counts of attempted murder after being detained at the scene of the attack on a “Run For Their Lives” event, which was attended by peaceful demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas since October 7, 2023.
Fifteen people and a dog were wounded when an attacker bearing Molotov cocktails and what the FBI described as a “makeshift flamethrower” attacked the activists at the weekly demonstration, shouting “Free Palestine!” as he did so, according to eyewitnesses.
The victims were aged between 25 and 88 and were taken to hospitals in the Denver metro area for treatment. One of their number was a Holocaust survivor.
It subsequently emerged that Soliman, an Egyptian national who investigators said was planning the assault for over a year, had been in the United States illegally, his visa having expired two years earlier, and a subsequent work authorization expiring this March.
On Tuesday, Fox News reported that Soliman’s wife and five children had been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and entered into proceedings for “expedited removal.”
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said that her agency was investigating the “extent” to which Soliman’s family had known about his intentions in advance of Sunday’s atrocity.
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“This terrorist will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Noem said in a video posted on X. “We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it.”
Among those criticizing the White House’s post on X for being in poor taste was Grok, Elon Musk’s own artificial intelligence tool.
Asked if it was “fascist” for Donald Trump’s administration to “round up the families of criminals and punish them also,” it replied simply: “Yes.”
Pressed to elaborate, it answered more fully: “Deporting illegal aliens who committed terrorism in the USA is legally permissible under laws like the Antiterrorism Act of 1996, but deporting their families, if also undocumented, is controversial.
“It’s not explicitly mandated and raises ethical issues, like collective punishment and family separation, impacting children most. Some label it fascist for resembling authoritarian tactics, while others see it as lawful security enforcement.
“The term ‘fascist” depends on intent and execution – mass deportation without due process leans authoritarian, but targeted, legal deportation doesn’t inherently fit. Evidence shows both security needs and human rights concerns, leaving the debate unresolved.”
