Remembering
James Robison

You are viewing a page from our archive site. To browse the latest Christian TV content on The Stream, click here.

The Affogato: When One Door Closes, a Visa Opens … and Expires

Plus, Day 2 of Where in the World is John Zmirak?

By Gayle McQueary Published on June 4, 2025

Sometimes it’s good to give a story time to simmer in order to see if new or more accurate details emerge. In the case of the terrorist attack that took place in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday, we now know the Biden administration granted Mohamed Sabry Soliman not one but two separate visas to remain in the United States.

Soliman first tried to enter the U.S. in 2005 but was denied; however, he successfully entered the U.S. after landing at Los Angeles International Airport on August 27, 2022, with a non-immigrant visa. He was authorized to remain in the U.S. on a B-2 visitor visa through February 2, 2023, but never left when it expired — causing him to apply for asylum on September 9, 2022. (Interestingly, Soliman is from Egypt, where Muslims are not persecuted minorities.) The Biden administration then gave him a two-year work permit which expired this March.

We also have learned that before attempting to immolate people at the Pearl Street Mall, he tried to buy a gun — but was denied because he’s not a citizen.

Update on the Boulder Attack

Yesterday we reported that there were eight burn victims in the Pearl Street Mall attack. Late Monday, District Attorney Michael Dougherty identified four additional victims who’d suffered minor injuries during a press conference. An affidavit issued by the U.S. Justice Department on June 1 charged Soliman with a “hate crime involving actual or perceived race, religion, or national origin,” and found he had been planning his attack for a year; he was simply waiting for his daughter to graduate from high school before launching it.

According to the affidavit, “SOLIMAN stated that he hated the Zionist group and did this because he hated this group and needed to stop them from taking over ‘our land,’ which he explained to be Palestine.”

It also states that upon his arrest, local police discovered a black plastic container with

at least 14 unlit Molotov cocktails, comprised of glass wine carafe bottles or Ball jars containing clear liquid and red rags hanging out of the bottles. Near the black plastic container was a backpack weed sprayer, potentially containing a flammable substance. The clear liquid in the glass bottles and weed sprayer were determined to to be 87 octane gasoline.

Soliman also faces state charges, including 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of use of an incendiary device, and 16 counts of attempted use of an incendiary device. If he’s convicted of all of them, he could receive a maximum of 624 years in state prison.

In more shocking news, Soliman’s wife and five children were taken into federal custody yesterday to determine how much they knew about his plans. (It’s unclear whether his family is in the country legally.) Soliman’s next court appearance will be tomorrow in Boulder.

Do we all agree now that we need to secure the border?

Ten Commandments in Texas Faces New Threat

Last week, we were excited to share the good news about the Texas Legislature passing SB 10, SB 11, and SB 965 — three bills that require schools to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms and which protect the religious freedom of teachers and students alike. Yesterday, we learned the ACLU’s Texas chapter has joined Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation in attempts to block the legislation.

The ACLU claims S.B. 10 is blatantly unconstitutional and violates “‘students’ and parents’ First Amendment rights.”

Supporters for the legislation argue that previous U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, mean SB 10 would hold up in court, but ACLU Staff Attorney Chloe Kempf contends that the Court’s decision in Stone v. Graham, which struck down a similar law in Kentucky, still applies.

Texas isn’t the first state to pass legislation requiring classroom to post the Ten Commandments; Louisiana and Arkansas passed similar bills last year and last month, respectively. Please join us in praying for God to intervene and for the morals of the Ten Commandments to weigh heavily on those who oppose children learning about basic moral underpinnings of society.

New Rapid Scoring Tool for Drug-Resistant Infections

Here’s some good news for people dealing with drug-resistant infections. Rachel Burgoon, a pharmacist who graduated from Cedarville University in 2020, has developed a new tool that helps physicians identify and treat drug-resistant infections faster than ever. Burgoon launched a study during her second year of residency to identify risk factors for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing enterobacterales (ESBL-E) infections — bacteria that are resistant to common antibiotics.

The tool uses four key factors to identify high-risk patients: cirrhosis, the use of a urinary or central venous catheter, and prior ESBL-E infection history. This enables clinicians to target broader therapy for resistant infections while avoiding overtreating lower-risk cases, helping stem the growing issue of antibiotic resistance. Burgoon’s research was published in the January 2025 issue of Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy.

Where in the World Is John Zmirak?

The Affogato summer series game: Where in the World is John Zmirak?

Thank you for playing along to find Stream Senior Editor John Zmirak on his travels! Some of you are good sleuths who already identified his first location! Keep guessing because at the end of the two weeks, the person who has the most correct (or close to correct!) guesses will get a gift from us.

We’re on Day 2. This one might be too easy, but try to figure it out without using Google. John is still stateside, for now, but he had to make a stop to visit someone’s home.

Do you think you know where he is? Send your guesses to us at [email protected] or visit our Facebook page.

Along The Stream…

In case you missed it, Michael Giere has written another great piece: “What’s in a Word? Using Language as a Wrecking Ball,” to show how manipulating language shapes cultures, shifts blame, and consolidates power — threatening meritocracy and freedom itself.

Coming up this afternoon, Dr. Jordan Rubin tells us “Why Illnesses and Autoimmune Disorders Are Increasing.”

 

Gayle McQueary is The Stream’s social media specialist. She has a background in production and is a scary judge of what happens in the summer without sunscreen.