Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Violent Crime

Boulder Firebomber Gets Life Plus 2,128 Years For Terror Attack On Pro Israel Demonstrators
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Boulder Firebomber Gets Life Plus 2,128 Years For Terror Attack On Pro Israel Demonstrators

By Matt Kyle | The Denver Gazette A man accused of throwing two Molotov cocktails into a crowd of pro-Israel protesters in Boulder pleaded guilty Thursday to 101 state charges in a Boulder County courthouse and received just shy of the maximum sentence allowed by law. Following a lengthy sentencing hearing and personal statement from Mohamed Sabry Soliman, District Judge Nancy Salomone sentenced him to the maximum sentence on almost every count, which must be served consecutively. He was sentenced to life in prison, plus an additional 2,128 years. Soliman, 46, was arrested shortly after the June 1, 2025 attack at the Pearl Street Mall. Soliman, who plotted the attack for more than a year, threw two Molotov cocktails into a group of people calling for the release of hos...
Colorado Democrats Face Backlash Over Reduced Sentences for Violent Crimes
TownHall.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Democrats Face Backlash Over Reduced Sentences for Violent Crimes

By Amy Curtis | Commentary, Townhall Earlier, we told you that four Colorado Democrats killed a bill that would have barred probation for some child sex crimes, and now it turns out the Democrats just passed legislation that downgraded sentencing for murders under certain circumstances. This means that the possibility of a life sentence for murdering one person is no longer an option. https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/2051779051790962919?s=20 Insane. https://twitter.com/tadgh_dc/status/2051982051885105452?s=20 That'll solve the problem. https://twitter.com/AmericanBear76/status/2051858794162872381?s=20 READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT TOWNHALL Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are thos...
Colorado murder bill advances: Sentencing cuts collide with voter mandate
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado murder bill advances: Sentencing cuts collide with voter mandate

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado voters approved Proposition 128 in November 2024 with 62 percent support, requiring those convicted of second-degree murder and several other violent felonies to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Seventeen months later, House Bill 26-1281 is headed to the House floor. While much of the debate has focused on how the bill treats completed murders, most of its effect may come from how it changes penalties for attempted cases — incidents far more common in Colorado. The bill would reclassify some first-degree murder convictions as second-degree and also reduces penalties for attempted cases—crimes that occur far more often than completed homicides, including drive-by ...
He Loved This City. Then It Nearly Killed Him.
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

He Loved This City. Then It Nearly Killed Him.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Nico Francis had spent the early part of the evening on April 3 at the First Friday ArtWalk on Santa Fe, and with friends waiting on Colfax, he grabbed a Lime scooter just after 11:30 p.m. and took what he called the scenic route. It was a night like dozens of others for the Ohio transplant, who moved to Denver in 2020 — a man who had long been something of a downtown defender, someone who pushed back every time a friend called the area dangerous.  "I love 16th street. I love downtown. I like just riding through there and seeing what's going on — seeing all the people, seeing everything going on," Francis said. That comfort level would not survive the night. Then something felt off  A white SUV conta...
Violent Crime Spree Allegations Follow Release Of High Risk Colorado Parolee
Fox News, Approved, Local

Violent Crime Spree Allegations Follow Release Of High Risk Colorado Parolee

By Stepheny Price | Fox News Ricky Lee Roybal-Smith faces four murder charges, including three deaths in 2025 and one from 2022. A Colorado parolee once classified as a "very high" risk of reoffending is now charged in four separate killings across three counties — including three counts of first-degree murder tied to an alleged 2025 crime spree. Ricky Lee Roybal-Smith, 38, faces two counts of first-degree murder in Adams County, one count of first-degree murder in Denver and a newly filed second-degree murder charge in Arapahoe County connected to a 2022 death. He is being held without bond in the Denver jail, prosecutors confirmed. In 2022, Roybal-Smith was accused of threatening customers at a retail store. One day later, a woman named...
President Trump’s Historic Year of Achievements for Colorado
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

President Trump’s Historic Year of Achievements for Colorado

By Christy Fidura | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice When Joe Biden left office, he left a legacy of weakness, wokeness, and worry among the American people about our nation's future. In just over one year, President Trump has turned America around to ensure that the state of our Union is strong, and the future is bright. Despite inheriting an economy on the verge of collapse, President Trump stopped the bleeding and is getting America, and Colorado, back on the right path. True wages for workers increased more than $1,100 last year and Americans are reaping the rewards of tax refunds up 15% this year thanks to President Trump and Republicans passing the largest tax cut in history. The Working Class Families Tax Cut fulfilled several of President Trump's c...
Colorado task force clears 566 felony warrants as fugitive arrests rise in 2025
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado task force clears 566 felony warrants as fugitive arrests rise in 2025

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado was not an easy place to hide last year. By the end of 2025, U.S. Marshals Service was reporting 498 fugitive arrests tied to Colorado's Violent Offender Task Force. Those arrests cleared 566 felony warrants in total - more than the year before, and enough to register as a 17 percent increase. The figures come from the Marshals Service’s statewide enforcement summary, not from a collection of isolated arrests or one-off operations. In the agency’s words, the increase reflected “relentless efforts to locate and arrest violent fugitives,” driven by coordination across multiple law-enforcement agencies. What the Marshals Actually Reported The organization and operation of the Colorado Violen...
Trump Confirms Death of West Virginia Guardsman Attacked in DC
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Trump Confirms Death of West Virginia Guardsman Attacked in DC

By: Ross O'Keefe | The Washington Examiner West Virginia National Guard soldier Sarah Beckstrom has died from her injuries after she and another soldier were shot Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced. She was 20. Her father, Gary Beckstrom, previously said she wasn’t expected to recover and had a mortal injury. “I must unfortunately tell you that just seconds before I went on right now, I heard that Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about, highly respected young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023 outstanding in every way. She’s just passed away,” Trump said Thursday evening. “She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her. It’s just happened. She was savagely attacked. S...
Phil Weiser’s Failed Experiment in Criminal Justice
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Phil Weiser’s Failed Experiment in Criminal Justice

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  It has become a common theme in many states and cities that the authorities who are responsible for the long-term safety and security of their residents, nevertheless subscribe to the popular fallacy that locking up criminals does little to deter future offenses and is less effective in the long run that social programs or rehabilitation efforts, however those might be defined.  The theory here is that criminals aren’t responsible for their actions, Society is primarily to blame.  The policies of Colorado’s attorney general, Phil Weiser, and the Democrat dominated Colorado legislature prove how foolish and misguided this theory is.  In 2019, the Colorado legislature eliminated the option of cash bail for...
Colorado’s “Reform Paradox”: Falling Recidivism, Rising Violence, and the Real-World Cost of Dangerous Releases
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s “Reform Paradox”: Falling Recidivism, Rising Violence, and the Real-World Cost of Dangerous Releases

By Shaina Cole | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Common Sense Institute’s October report shows Colorado’s three-year recidivism rate falling from about 52 percent in 2019 to near 31 percent in 2022. On paper that looks like improvement. In practice, the number tells only a small piece of the story.  CSI makes it clear that the number drops mostly because fewer people are going to prison at all. The state’s incarcerated population has shrunk, felony filings are down, and more defendants are getting funneled into diversion programs or handed PR bonds under Colorado’s evolving bail practices. When the state isn’t locking people up, fewer people return to prison later. That’s not a public-safety miracle. It’s just the math. Ask people who actually live here whether things...

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds