Two staff members of Israel's embassy were assassinated in Washington D.C. Wednesday night by an anti-Israel extremist chanting "Free Palestine."
The victims, Israeli citizen Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, an American, were a couple about to be engaged. They were ambushed outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where they attended an event for young diplomats.
The 31-year-old shooter, a Chicagoan named Elias Rodriguez, was seen pacing outside the museum before he approached a group of four people and opened fire with a handgun, inflicting fatal injuries on the two victims, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said.
Rodriguez then walked into the museum and started chanting, "Free Palestine" as he was taken into custody.
Just moments before the brutal murders, Lischinsky had told friends he was looking forward to returning to Israel to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Shavuot with his family, said Ted Deutch, the chief executive of the American Jewish Committee.
“Sarah and Yaron were stolen from us,” said Deutch. “Moments before they were murdered, they were smiling, laughing and enjoying an event with colleagues and friends. We are in shock and heartbroken as we attempt to process this immense tragedy.”
Lischinsky had purchased a ring with the intention of proposing to Milgrim next week in Jerusalem, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said at a press conference in D.C.
The case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro.
The FBI raided the Chicago apartment where Rodriguez lives Thursday as details of his life emerged.
A LinkedIn profile with his name lists work at the American Osteopathic Information Association (AOIA) and The HistoryMakers, an educational non-profit that highlights African American history. A HistoryMakers webpage, which has since been taken down, described Rodriguez as an English major and content writer.
Rodriguez also has past ties to the Party for Socialism and Liberation. He joined the group at a 2017 Black Lives Matter protest, where he condemned Amazon's "whitening" of Seattle.
“He had a brief association with one branch of the PSL that ended in 2017. We know of no contact with him in over 7 years. We have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it," the Party for Socialism and Liberation said on X.
Wednesday night's shocking attack comes as Israel has escalated a military offensive in heavily bombarded Gaza, sparking international condemnation.
A manifesto circulating online and signed with Rodriguez's name calls for an armed response to the "genocide" in Gaza and praises Aaron Bushnell, the Air Force veteran who burned himself to death while shouting "Free Palestine" outside Israel's embassy last year.
An extreme anti-Israel movement has caused violent unrest at many colleges, prompting a muscular crackdown on student radicals by the Trump administration. In the wake of the murders in D.C., President Trump declared that "hatred and radicalism" must be stamped out.
“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” President Trump posted on Truth Social early Thursday. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tied the murders to an anti-Semitic effort to discredit the state of Israel.
“We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel,” he said in a statement.
