Suspect in Colorado attack told police he researched for a year and targeted ‘Zionist group’ – AP
The FBI have said the man charged in the attack in Boulder, Colorado, that left eight people injured told police he planned it for a year and specifically targeted what he described as the “Zionist group”.
An FBI affidavit says Mohammed Soliman confessed to the attack after being taken into custody Sunday and told the police he would do it again, the Associated Press reports.
The affidavit was released in support of a federal hate crime charged filed by the justice department earlier today.
The group that was targeted had gathered in a popular pedestrian park in Boulder to draw attention to the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.
Key events
The aftermath of the Boulder attack – in pictures
Trump administration seeks pause of second tariff case after loss
The Trump administration has asked a US appeals court to pause a second court ruling that found the president had exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on imports, saying the decision jeopardizes trade negotiations with other nations, Reuters reports.
Trump’s tariffs were first declared illegal by the Manhattan-based US Court of International Trade on 28 May. A federal court in Washington followed with a second ruling the next day, which also found that the tariffs exceeded the president’s authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law intended to address “unusual and extraordinary” threats during national emergencies.
The lawsuits which led to those rulings challenged Trump’s use of the law to justify the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs on imports imposed in early April on most US trading partners, as well as a separate set of tariffs levied on China, Mexico and Canada in February.
The Trump administration has already won a temporary pause of the first court loss, allowing it to reinstate tariffs during the early stages of the appeal. The court is expected to rule on the Trump administration’s request for a longer-term pause later this month.
The second ruling, from US district judge Rudolph Contreras had less immediate impact than the Court of International Trade ruling, because it only stopped the Trump administration from collecting tariffs from two small businesses that had sued whereas the trade court ruling blocked the tariffs that had been challenged broadly. But it contained a more direct finding that IEEPA simply does not authorize tariffs, going further than the more nuanced ruling in the Court of International Trade.
A blunt ruling that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs undercuts Trump’s ability to use tariffs as a “credible threat” in trade talks, the Department of Justice wrote in an emergency motion to the US court of appeals for the DC circuit, which has jurisdiction over the DC district court.
Four senior Trump officials, including secretary of state Marco Rubio and US trade representative Jamieson Greer had submitted affidavits to Contreras before his 29 May ruling, saying that stopping the tariffs would threaten the United States’ economic and national security by jeopardizing “delicate” trade negotiations with dozens of other nations.
The small businesses that brought the lawsuit, educational toy makers Learning Resources Inc and hand2mind, said they would oppose the Trump administration’s attempt to block the lower court ruling.
Top immigration officials defend arrest of Massachusetts high school student
The head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has defended his agency’s decision to arrest a Massachusetts high school student on his way to volleyball practice, saying: “He’s in this country illegally and we’re not going to walk away from anybody.”
Todd Lyons, the acting director of Ice, made those comments as reporters asked him during an event in Boston to explain why authorities on Saturday arrested 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, who has been in the United States since 2012.
The Brazilian’s arrest sparked a massive protest on Sunday in the Boston suburb of Milford, where he lives, and a demand for information about the incident from Democratic governor Maura Healey, who said she was “disturbed and outraged.”
Reuters reports that Lyons spoke about Gomes’ arrest while announcing the results of an immigration enforcement surge in Massachusetts that resulted in nearly 1,500 people being taken into custody last month as part of Donald Trump’s hardline effort to ramp up mass deportations.
Lyons and Patricia Hyde, the acting field director of Ice enforcement and removal operations in Boston, said Gomes was not the target of the investigation that led to his arrest and that authorities instead were seeking his father, who remains at large. “So obviously, he isn’t the father of the year because he brought his son up here illegally as well,” Lyons said.
The Milford high school student had been driving his father’s vehicle when he was arrested following a traffic stop, Lyons said. He said that when authorities encounter someone in the country illegally, “we will take action on that”.
“We’re doing the job that Ice should have been doing all along,” he said. “We enforce all immigration laws.”
A federal judge issued an emergency order on Sunday preventing authorities from transferring Gomes out of Massachusetts for at least 72 hours in response to a lawsuit arguing he was unlawfully detained.
The lawsuit said that Gomes entered the United States on a student visa. While his student visa status has lapsed, the lawsuit said he is eligible for and intends to apply for asylum.
China accuses US of ‘seriously violating’ trade truce
Amy Hawkins
Here’s more on that from my colleague Amy Hawkins.
China has accused the US of “seriously violating” the fragile US-China detente that has been in place for less than a month since the two countries agreed to pause the trade war that risked upending the global economy.
China and the US agreed on 12 May to pause for 90 days the skyrocketing “reciprocal” tariffs that both countries had placed on the others goods in a frenzied trade war that started a few weeks earlier. Tariffs had reached 125% on each side, which officials feared amounted to virtual embargo on trade between the world’s two biggest economies.
Donald Trump had hailed the pause as a “total reset” of US-China relations. But since then, trade negotiations have faltered, with the US complaining that China has not delivered on promises to roll back restrictions on the export of key critical minerals to the US. The US president said on Friday that China had “totally violated” the agreement.
The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Sunday:
What China is doing is they are holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe. And that is not what a reliable partner does.
During the period of aggressive retaliatory trade measures between the US and China in April, China had restricted the export of certain rare earth minerals and magnets, which are critical for US manufacturing.
The restrictions were expected to be relaxed after the 12 May agreement but the process appears to have been patchy at best. Now, US companies, particularly car manufacturers, are reportedly running out of magnets.
China hit back on Monday, accusing the US of violating and undermining the agreements reached in Geneva in May, and the consensus between Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s president, on their 17 January phone call.
China’s commerce ministry said on Monday:
The US has successively introduced a number of discriminatory restrictive measures against China, including issuing export control guidelines for AI chips, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and announcing the revocation of Chinese student visas.
The ministry said China “is determined to safeguard its rights and interests” and denied the accusation from the US that it had undermined the 12 May agreement.
The US has indicated that another Xi-Trump call is expected soon.
Earlier we reported that Donald Trump is expected to speak directly with Chinese president Xi Jinping “in the coming days”. While this could still happen, Bloomberg reports (paywall) that China has lashed out today after Trump accused China of “totally violating” its initial trade deal last week, potentially “dimming the prospect of an immediate leadership call”.
Indeed, per Politico: “China said it was in fact the US that has breached the agreement Trump and Xi made in a January phone call. And from limiting chip exports to going after Chinese students, the US ‘insists on its own way and continues to damage China’s interests’, the commerce ministry said, threatening counter-measures.
“China’s crackdown on rare earth exports two months ago is starting to bite for US automakers in particular, which may have to start limiting production in a matter of days, the New York Times (paywall) reports. With China still not pulling back on the magnet restrictions, the US and Europe have this supply-chain Achilles’ heel exposed.”
Officials to hold news conference to announce charges against Boulder attack suspect
Boulder district attorney Michael Dougherty and acting United States attorney for the district of Colorado, Bishop Grewell, will hold a news conference at 2.30pm MDT (4.30pm ET), according to the Department of Justice.
Suspect in Colorado attack told police he researched for a year and targeted ‘Zionist group’ – AP
The FBI have said the man charged in the attack in Boulder, Colorado, that left eight people injured told police he planned it for a year and specifically targeted what he described as the “Zionist group”.
An FBI affidavit says Mohammed Soliman confessed to the attack after being taken into custody Sunday and told the police he would do it again, the Associated Press reports.
The affidavit was released in support of a federal hate crime charged filed by the justice department earlier today.
The group that was targeted had gathered in a popular pedestrian park in Boulder to draw attention to the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.
The Islamic Center of Boulder has condemned the “targeted violence” of yesterday’s attack. “Such actions have no place in the Boulder community,” the center said in a statement today.
The statement reads:
Hate and violence oppose our values and are a threat to all Americans. We call on our neighbors to focus on supporting the victims of this terrible attack, and to reject those who would use this horrible incident to divide our community.
Every individual and every community has the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and free expression. These fundamental freedoms must be respected and safeguarded for everyone, regardless of their views or background.
Boulder attack has ‘every single hallmark of being a hate crime’, says Colorado attorney general
Earlier this morning, Colorado attorney general Phil Weiser said the Boulder attack was “very cruel” and has “every single hallmark of being a hate crime”.
“This was a peaceful march done every single week by the Jewish community, calling out the injustices of the hostages, and they were attacked because of who they are,” he said on MSNBC. “It is heart-wrenching for all of us in Colorado.”
“It is repulsive,” said Weiser, who is Jewish, of the violence. “It’s got to be condemned. There’s no possible justification for this.”
Trump says Boulder attack suspect ‘must go’ as he vows prosecution
Donald Trump has said the suspect in the Boulder attack would be prosecuted to “to the fullest extent of the law” and stressed the need for his deportation policies, saying the suspect “must go”.
“Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “He must go out under ‘TRUMP’ Policy.”
Here’s the full post:
Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America. He came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly. He must go out under “TRUMP” Policy. Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland. My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!
Boulder attack suspect charged with federal hate crime – CNN
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in yesterday’s attack in Boulder, Colorado, on a crowd who were raising awareness for Israeli hostages in Gaza has been charged with a hate crime, CNN is reporting citing an affidavit filed today.
He was charged with a “hate crime involving actual or perceived race, religion, or national origin”, CNN quotes the affidavit as saying.
Trump asks supreme court to allow mass federal layoffs
Donald Trump’s administration has asked the supreme court to halt a judicial order blocking mass job cuts and the restructuring of agencies, Reuters reports.
The justice department’s request came after San Francisco-based US district judge Susan Illston blocked large-scale federal layoffs, known as “reductions in force,” in a 22 May ruling siding with a group of unions, non-profit groups and local governments that challenged the administration.
The case involves the departments of agriculture, commerce, health and human services, state, treasury and veterans affairs, among others.
Trump directed federal agencies in February to “promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force” as part of his administration’s restructuring plans.
Illston wrote in her ruling that Trump had exceeded his authority in ordering the downsizing. “As history demonstrates, the president may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress,” Illston wrote.
Illston on 9 May had initially blocked about 20 agencies from making mass layoffs for two weeks and ordered the reinstatement of workers who had lost their jobs. She continued most of that relief in her 22 May ruling.
The San Francisco-based 9th US circuit court of appeals in a 2-1 ruling on 30 May denied the Trump administration’s request to halt the judge’s ruling.
The 9th Circuit said the administration had not shown that it would suffer an irreparable injury if the judge’s order remained in place and that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail in their lawsuit. “The executive order at issue here far exceeds the president’s supervisory powers under the Constitution,” the 9th Circuit wrote, calling the administration’s actions “an unprecedented attempted restructuring of the federal government and its operations.”
Trump’s administration has sought relief from the supreme court in a growing number of cases following rulings by lower courts impeding various policies since he returned to office in January.
Police found 16 additional molotov cocktails in the area where the Boulder attack suspect was spotted, CNN is reporting citing multiple law enforcement sources.
The suspect arrived in the area of the incident around 1pm local time and lingered there before throwing two incendiary devices, according to multiple law enforcement sources. He was wearing a utility vest over his shirt and was carrying a garden sprayer filled with gasoline, sources said.
Many witnesses said he looked like a gardener, officials added. He used the garden sprayer as the ‘makeshift flamethrower’, apparently, by spraying gasoline in the direction of the marchers while holding a lighter in front of the stream of fuel, sources said.
Investigators believe he stopped at gas stations in the area before the attack to fill the bottles and the garden sprayer.
Witnesses said the suspect took off his vest and shirt because they had started to catch fire during the attack, according to police. He was taken to an area hospital after his arrest for burns he sustained to his hands during the attack.
Democratic senator Chris Murphy has launched a new political action committee to help fund groups that are organizing opposition to the Trump administration.
The group, American Mobilization Pac, plans to spend $400,000 to organizations that oppose cuts to Medicaid and register young people to vote. The group expects to spend upwards of $2m in the 2026 midterm cycle, Politico reports.
In an interview with the outlet, Murphy said his Pac is unique because it is not focused on funding campaigns and instead is looking to mobilize people against Trump’s agenda. He said:
All of us have to realize that if we don’t act aggressively right now to organize and mobilize, we may not have our democracy in 2026. I’m a believer that the only thing that is ultimately going to stop Trump’s corruption and his destruction of democracy is mass mobilization.
The Boulder police department has released a mugshot of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who has been charged with multiple felonies related to the Sunday attack at an event in Boulder, Colorado to raise attention for Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Carter Sherman
At least 20 Planned Parenthood clinics across seven states have shuttered since the start of 2025 or have announced plans to close soon – closures that come amid immense financial and political turbulence for the reproductive health giant as the United States continues to grapple with the fallout from the end of Roe v Wade.
The Planned Parenthood network, which operates nearly 600 clinics through a web of independent regional affiliates and is overseen by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, is facing a number of threats from the Trump administration.
A Guardian analysis has found that Planned Parenthood closures have occurred or are in the works across six affiliates that maintain clinics in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Utah and Vermont.
In late March, the Trump administration suddenly froze tens of millions of dollars in funding for nine Planned Parenthood affiliates, including at least two that have since closed clinics or are set to do so soon.
The funding, which flowed from the federal family planning program Title X, was used to provide services such as contraception, cancer screenings and STI tests.
Trump to speak to Xi Jinping ‘very soon’ in call likely to take place this week
Donald Trump is expected to have a direct conversation with Chinese president Xi Jinping in the coming days after his outburst last week accusing Beijing of “totally violating” an interim trade deal reached by the two countries in Geneva last month. According to CNBC the call will come “very soon” but probably not today.
Politico had also reported this morning that cabinet members confirmed yesterday that trade talks with China had slowed but had also hinted at the Trump-Xi conversation likely taking place this week. “That’s our expectation,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said a call should come “very soon”, telling CBS that China has slow-walked a critical minerals agreement – which was also cited by US trade representative Jamieson Greer last week.