US justice department to seek death penalty for man charged with killing two Israeli embassy staffers | Washington DC
The U.S. justice department will seek the death penalty for the man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum, prosecutors said in a court filing Friday.
Elias Rodriguez faces federal hate crime and murder charges in the killings of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim as they were leaving an event at the museum last May. According to the indictment, Rodriguez shouted “free Palestine” during the shooting and later told the police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”
The charges against Rodriguez include a hate crime resulting in death. The indictment also includes special findings that would allow prosecutors to apply for the death penalty.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said at an unrelated news conference Friday where the justice department announced its death penalty decision: “My message to anyone who wants to commit political violence in this district is D.C. is not the place. You will be held accountable and face the full wrath of the law.”
The hate crime charges mean prosecutors will have to prove that Rodriguez was motivated by antisemitism when he allegedly opened fire on Lischinsky and Milgrim, a young couple who were about to get engaged. Milgrim was a US citizen and Lischinsky was an Israeli citizen working in the US. The killings sparked bipartisan outrage from lawmakers in the nation’s capital.
Prosecutors said the murder was calculated and planned, saying that Rodriguez flew from Chicago to the Washington area with a gun in his checked luggage ahead of an event at the Capital Jewish Museum on May 21, 2025.
Witnesses described him wandering outside before approaching a group of four men and opening fire. Surveillance video showed Rodriguez approaching Lischinsky and Milgrim, who had fallen to the ground, leaning over them and opening additional fire. He reloaded before running, authorities said.
Authorities said after the shooting, Rodriguez entered the museum and said, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I’m unarmed,” according to court documents. 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 him as “brave” and a “martyr.”
