Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed Wednesday night after leaving an event for young Jewish professionals in Washington, D.C., in what the FBI said was a targeted act of violence. The suspect is an activist with past ties to a pro-communism organization.
The victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were diplomats “who worked in foreign policy and had a panel discussion focused on finding humanitarian solutions for Gaza,” Fox News reported. Lischinsky worked as a political research assistant, and Milgrim organized trips to Israel at the embassy. They had just left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when they were murdered.
The couple was about to be engaged. Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said Lischinsky had recently bought an engagement ring and was going to propose to Milgrim next week in Jerusalem.
The suspected killer is 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago. According to police, he yelled “Free Palestine” before allegedly killing Lischinsky and Milgrim. Rodriguez also chanted “Free, free Palestine” while police arrested him outside the museum, according to video of the apprehension.
An eyewitness told Fox & Friends that she spoke with Rodriguez before police arrested him. Katie Kalisher said the alleged killer came into the museum, drenched in rain, after several gunshots rang out. She said Rodriguez pulled out a kaffiyeh (a traditional Middle Eastern headdress), told her he was responsible for the gunshots and that he did it for Gaza, and began shouting “Free, free Palestine.” Police arrested him shortly afterward.
Investigations
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said Rodriguez likely acted alone, according to Fox.
High-ranking Trump officials say multiple agencies are investigating the murders. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that “several agencies” are looking into the incident, according to Sa’ar. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel both said their agencies were conducting a probe. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement, too. “Make no mistake: we will track down those responsible and bring them to justice,” he tweeted.
Reigniting Debate
Wednesday’s killing has already reignited debate around antisemitism and the growing anti-Israel sentiment that has become more commonplace since the Jewish nation launched its military campaign in Gaza. “This type of tragedy is the natural progression of events when the morons running our colleges, far left politicians, and hate merchants on social media continue to normalize and seemingly encourage anti semitism in this country,” Dave Portnoy tweeted.
Israeli author Saul Sadka posted on his X account:
What did y’all think “globalize the intifada” meant? Vibes? Papers? Essays?
It meant this sweet young couple, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, gunned down at an American Jewish Committee event at the Jewish Museum by radicalized monster Elias Rodriguez, chanting “Free, free Palestine.”
The murders are sure to trigger intense debates about what constitutes legitimate, constitutionally protected criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, and what is genuine bigotry.
On his Truth Social account, President Donald Trump denounced the murders as an act of bigotry:
These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen!
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for increased security for Israeli embassies and diplomats. He also said:
We are witness to the terrible cost of the antisemitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel. Blood libels against Israel have a cost in blood and must be fought to the utmost. My heart grieves for the families of the young beloveds, whose lives were cut short in a moment by an abhorrent antisemitic murderer.
Elias Rodriguez
Rodriguez was born and raised in Chicago. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and worked for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). The AOA issued a statement offering sympathy for the victims’ family members and promising to cooperate with the investigation.
Rodriguez has ties to the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a rabidly leftist organization openly dedicated to destroying capitalism in the U.S. and replacing it with socialism.
An October 25, 2017 article on the organization’s news website, Liberation News, identifies Rodriguez as a member of the PSL and documents his participation in a protest outside then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house. The protest centered around the $2.25 billion bid for an Amazon headquarters in Chicago. It was organized by the People’s Congress of Resistance, ANSWER Chicago, and Black Lives Matter, according to Liberation News. The article includes comments from Rodriguez:
Elias Rodriguez from the Party for Socialism and Liberation argued that the murder of Laquan McDonald and the Chicago bid for an Amazon headquarters are not two separate issues, but rather they are both connected. “The wealth that Amazon has brought to Seattle has not been shared with its Black residents,” Rodriguez said. “[Amazon’s] whitening of Seattle is structurally racist and a direct danger to all workers who live in that city. So do we in Chicago and all across the country want a nation of cities dominated and occupied by massive corporations where only the rich and white can live and the vast majority of us must live on edges of the city and society living in deeper and deeper poverty? I don’t think so.”
Pro-Communist PSL
The PSL openly supports communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, and has praised communist Mao Zedong’s genocidal Chinese Revolution. Both men devastated their respective nations with the most inhuman of all political systems. Their contribution resulted in the death of tens of millions of Russians and Chinese.
This is not the first time current or past PSL members have been tied to violence. According to InfluenceWatch:
Two PSL members, Lillian House and Joel Northam, were among the six protestors arrested on charges including inciting a riot and attempted kidnapping in Aurora, Colorado, in July of 2020. … On July 3, 600 protestors, including House and Northam, surrounded a local police precinct for seven hours, allegedly blocking all doors and adjacent roads. House and Northam were also charged with stealing signs from counter protesters and inciting a riot in which a protester fired at a Jeep attempting to drive through a blocked road.
The PSL has denied any current affiliation with Rodriguez. “We reject any attempt to associate the PSL with the DC shooting. Elias Rodriguez is not a member of the PSL. 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 the group said in a statement.
