WASHINGTON (AP) — The man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum told police after his arrest, "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza," federal authorities said Thursday in announcing charges in the killings they called a targeted act of terrorism.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted “Free Palestine” as he was led away after his arrest, according to charging documents that provided chilling new details of the Wednesday night attack in the nation's capital that killed an American woman and Israeli man who had just left an event at the museum. They were set to become engaged.
The stunning attack prompted Israeli missions to beef up their security and lower their flags to half-staff. It came as Israel pursues another major offensive in the Gaza Strip in the war with Hamas that has heightened tensions across the Middle East and internationally, and that law enforcement officials have repeatedly warned could inspire violence in the U.S.
Rodriguez faces charges of murder of foreign officials and other crimes and did not enter a plea during a perfunctory court appearance. Additional charges are likely, prosecutors said, as authorities continue to investigate the killings as both a hate crime against the Jewish community and terrorism.
“Violence against anyone based on their religion is an act of cowardice. It is not an act of a hero,” said Jeanine Pirro, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated, especially in the nation’s capital.”
Couple planned to become engaged
The two people killed were identified as Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American. They were a young couple about to be engaged, according to Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Friends, colleagues and former professors paid tribute to the pair Thursday as having dedicated themselves to promoting peace and aspiring to bridge cultural and religious divides.
“Sarah and Yaron were stolen from us,” said Ted Deutch, the chief executive of the American Jewish Committee, which organized the event. “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.”
An FBI affidavit made public Thursday presents the killing as calculated and planned, with authorities alleging that Rodriguez flew to the Washington region from Chicago on Tuesday with a handgun in his checked luggage. He purchased a ticket for the event about three hours before it started, the affidavit said.
The couple were leaving the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect, who witnesses said had been behaving suspiciously by pacing outside the museum, approached a group of four people and opened fire. Surveillance video showed Rodriguez advancing closer to the two victims as they fell to the ground, leaning over them and firing additional shots. He even appeared to reload before jogging off, the FBI said.
Affidavit says suspect declared that he ‘did it’
After the shooting, the suspect went inside the museum and stated that he “did it.” He was no longer armed by the time he was taken into custody, according to the affidavit.
“I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed,” he spontaneously said. He also told detectives that he admired an active-duty Air Force member who set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in February 2024, describing the man as “courageous” and a “martyr,” court documents said.
Investigators said they were still working to corroborate the authenticity of writings purported to be authored by Rodriguez, an apparent reference to a document circulating online that expressed outrage over Israel's conduct in the war. The FBI is also contacting associates, family members and coworkers.
Rodriguez appeared in federal court in Washington in a white jail suit and listened impassively as the charges and possible punishments, which include the death penalty, were read. At a home listed in public records for Rodriguez’s mother in suburban Chicago, a sign taped on the door Thursday afternoon asked for privacy.
The shooting followed the Jewish advocacy group's annual Young Diplomats reception at the museum, which the couple had attended.
Yoni Kalin and Katie Kalisher were inside the museum when they heard gunshots, and a man came inside looking distressed. Kalin said people came to his aid and brought him water, thinking he needed help, without realizing he was the suspect. When police arrived, he pulled out a red keffiyeh, the Palestinian headscarf, and repeatedly yelled, “Free Palestine,’” Kalin said.
“This event was about humanitarian aid,” Kalin said. “How can we actually help both the people in Gaza and the people in Israel? How can we bring together Muslims and Jews and Christians to work together to actually help innocent people? And then here he is just murdering two people in cold blood."
Victims praised for their commitments and compassion
Milgrim, from Overland Park, Kansas, was “warm and compassionate, committed to peace building and passionate about sustainability and people-to-people relations," Deutch said. A former youth director at Congregation Beth Torah recalled her as a brilliant girl with a perpetual smile and a sense of purpose.
“She had a passion for Judaism and for Israel, and she wanted to do some good,” said Marcia Rittmaster, the former youth director. She recommended Milgrim for a Jewish leadership internship upon the young woman’s graduation from high school.
Lischinsky grew up partly in the German city of Nuremberg and moved to Israel at 16. He served in the Israeli military “and chose to dedicate his life to the state of Israel,” said Ron Prosor, who taught Lischinsky at Israel’s Reichman University. Lischinsky earned a master’s degree in government, diplomacy and strategy there.
“He embodied the Judeo-Christian values and set an example for young people worldwide,” Prosor said on X.
A friend, David Boskey, recalled Lischinsky as someone unafraid to broach hard questions in order to interrogate his own convictions. He met Lischinsky in 2017 in Jerusalem at a Messianic Jewish congregation, where they would often end up talking together about life and faith, Boskey said.
“He was looking to see where he was going to go in life, asking questions about calling and about identity and about what he was going to study, where he was going to work,” Boskey said.
On Instagram, his bio included a yellow ribbon symbolizing the struggle to free the hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.
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An earlier version incorrectly said that the suspect in the shooting had been charged with shoplifting in Chicago.
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Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Maya Sweedler, Zeke Miller, Michael Biesecker, Gary Fields, Michael Balsamo, Mike Pesoli, Nathan Ellgren, Dan Huff and Sarah Brumfield in Washington; as well as Jennifer Peltz in New York; Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri; Nick Ingram in Overland Park, Kansas; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, Stefanie Dazio in Berlin; and Natalie Melzer in Nahriya, Israel.
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