Court papers say suspect in embassy killings declared, 'I did it for
Palestine, I did it for Gaza'
[May 23, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
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 shootings in the nation's capital that
killed an American woman and an 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.”
The 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. Those who knew them paid tribute to the pair Thursday as warm,
vibrant and curious, dedicated 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,
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 co-workers.
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.
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Mayor of the District of Columbia Muriel Bowser, right, accompanied
by MPD Chief Pamela Smith, from left, FBI Assistant Director in
Charge Steven J. Jensen and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, speaks
during a news conference about two Israeli Embassy staffers shot at
the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, at the Attorney General's
office for the District of Columbia in Washington, Thursday, May 22,
2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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 kaffiyeh, 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 was a Christian, a true lover of Israel, served in the (Israel
Defense Forces), and chose to dedicate his life to the State of
Israel and the Zionist cause,” 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.”
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.
___
An earlier version incorrectly said that the suspect in the shooting
had been charged with shoplifting in Chicago.
____
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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