{"id":568555,"date":"2026-02-05T17:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T17:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/568555\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T17:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T17:17:13","slug":"us-files-terror-charges-in-israel-diplomat-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/568555\/","title":{"rendered":"US files terror charges in Israel diplomat killing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man accused of killing two Israeli diplomats in Washington last year<\/a> was indicted on four additional counts of terrorism, in a new indictment that was unsealed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The new indictment includes nine charges, including hate crimes<\/a>, filed earlier. Several of the charges carry a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said.<\/p>\n

“These additional terrorism-related charges carry a mandatory life sentence under DC Code, while also reflecting the reality that this act was in fact an act of terror,” US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors accuse Elias Rodriguez<\/a>, 31, of opening fire on people leaving an event for young professionals and diplomats hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.<\/p>\n

He fired approximately 20 shots from a semi-automatic handgun, and called out “Free Palestine,” according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

\"EliasElias Rodriguez, 31, is seated with his lawyer Elizabeth Mullin as Assistant US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey Nestler stands before Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh in US District Court in Washington, May 22, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. (credit: Courtesy Dana Verkouteren\/Handout via REUTERS)<\/p>\n

Lawyers for Rodriguez<\/a> did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, who both worked for Israel’s Embassy in Washington, were killed.<\/p>\n

Darren B. Cox, the FBI assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office, said Rodriguez wrote and published a manifesto as an attempt to “morally justify his actions” and inspire others to commit political violence.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was shocked<\/a> by the horrific antisemitic murder of embassy staff in Washington, his office said in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and the wild incitement against the State of Israel. The blood libels against Israel come at the cost of blood, and they must be fought until eradicated,” Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n

“My heart aches with the families of the beloved young man and woman whose lives were suddenly cut short by a despicable antisemitic murderer.<\/p>\n

“I have instructed to strengthen security arrangements at Israeli missions worldwide and to increase protection for state representatives,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

US A-G Pam Bondi: ‘DOJ will pursue death penalty for suspect in Capital Jewish Museum murders’<\/strong><\/p>\n

US Attorney-General Pam Bondi<\/a> opened a January 16 address to the Israeli-American Council (IAC) National Summit by recalling the May 2025 killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside Washington\u2019s Capital Jewish Museum, calling the attack a clear example of antisemitism in the United States and pledging aggressive federal enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSarah and Yaron were shot, murdered because they were Jewish,\u201d Bondi said. \u201cIt was horrible, horrible. We will not tolerate that in our country any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bondi told the audience that federal prosecutors are pursuing capital punishment in the case, saying, \u201cWe are prosecuting the monster, and we will seek the death penalty.\u201d The suspect, Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, has been indicted on federal hate crime and murder charges tied to the May 21, 2025, shooting outside the museum, with counts that can carry the death penalty under federal law.<\/p>\n

A week after the murder, multiple pro-Palestine and Marxist groups rallied<\/a> behind the attacker \u2013 Elias Rodriguez \u2013 and announced campaigns to free him.<\/p>\n

The most prominent of these campaigns was started by Unity of Fields \u2013 formerly known as Palestine Action US \u2013 which announced a \u201cFree Elias Rodriguez Organizing Committee\u201d on Monday.<\/p>\n

The campaign is co-signed by 28 other pro-Palestine or Marxist groups, including Palestine News Network, The United Liberation Front for Palestine, the Chinese Palestine Solidarity Action Network, the DSA Liberation Caucus, the Bronx Anti-War coalition, and Tariq el-Tahrir Youth and Student Network.<\/p>\n

The campaign statement calls Elias Rodriguez\u2019s murder of the two embassy workers on May 21 \u201ca legitimate act of resistance against the zionist state and its genocidal campaign in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time has now come for real consequences; they have left no other option,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

The statement then launched into a multi-paragraph diatribe about Zionist supremacy and imperialism before adding that \u201cin this light, the operation conducted by Elias Rodriguez against Israel\u2019s diplomatic functionaries in Washington DC \u2013 people actively engaged in facilitating this comprehensive violence across the globe by creating the diplomatic space to continue and deepen it \u2013 was, by his own account, a declaration of ENOUGH!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch counter-violence is legitimate, it is justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darcie Grunblatt and Mathilda Heller contributed to this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man accused of killing two Israeli diplomats in Washington last year was indicted on four additional counts…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":568556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12648,39476,26814,99,13852,50,101,5343,2058],"class_list":{"0":"post-568555","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-antisemitism","9":"tag-hate-crime","10":"tag-hate-monitor","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-israelis","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-shooting","15":"tag-terrorism","16":"tag-washington"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116019163705562745","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}