A man accused of shooting dead two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington, DC, has been indicted on federal hate crime and murder charges. Elias Rodriguez, 30, is accused of shooting Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a young couple who were about to become engaged, as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in May. According to court documents, Rodriguez approached the couple and opened fire, then advanced on them as they fell to the ground, firing additional shots as he stood over them.
Prosecutors described the killings as calculated and planned, alleging that Rodriguez flew to Washington from Chicago with a handgun in his checked luggage and purchased a ticket for the American Jewish Committee-organized event at the museum three hours before it started. Rodriguez also told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza”, according to federal authorities. Witnesses reported hearing him shout “Free Palestine” as he was led away.
The indictment includes a notice of special findings allowing the Department of Justice to potentially pursue the death penalty. Prosecutors will need to prove that Rodriguez was motivated by anti-Semitism when he opened fire on Lischinsky and Milgrim. Lischinsky was a research assistant at the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, while Milgrim organized trips to Israel for the embassy.
The case has drawn attention to the rising tensions and violence related to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump suggested he may call on the National Guard to bring down crime rates in the United States capital, saying Washington is “very unsafe” and “has to be the best-run place in the country”. Trump made his latest threat of a federal takeover of the US capital after a staffer who was part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was assaulted during a carjacking over the weekend.
According to records on the police department’s website, violent crime in Washington was down 26 percent in the first seven months of 2025 compared with last year, while overall crime was down some 7 percent. Despite this, Trump said, “We’re going to beautify the city. We’re going to make it beautiful. And what a shame, the rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else. We’re not going to let it”. He added, “And that includes bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly, too”.