Elias Rodriguez, the Chicago man who police say gunned down two Israeli Embassy staffers in front of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, was a far-left activist who identified as a Marxist and member of a pro-Palestine group.
The 31-year-old is accused of screaming “Free Palestine” while in police custody for allegedly gunning down Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and his girlfriend, Sarah Milgrim, 26.
Mr. Rodriguez was employed as an administrative specialist at the American Osteopathic Information Association. He was active in anti-Israel groups, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The group accuses Israel of genocide against Gaza, “with the full backing of the U.S. government.
In a statement, the PSL said it was not associated with the shooting and that Mr. Rodriguez is not a member but “had a brief association with one branch of the PSL that ended in 2017.”
The group said it knew of no contact with him in 7 years.
“We have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it.”
Mr. Rodriguez turned up at left-wing protests, advocating for Laquan McDonald, who was fatally shot by Chicago police. He’s quoted in a 2017 article in the socialist newspaper Liberation that Laquan’s death and a proposed Amazon headquarters were connected.
“The wealth that Amazon has brought to Seattle has not been shared with its Black residents,” he told the paper, explaining his opposition to the company. He said Amazon’s “whitening of Seattle is structurally racist and a direct danger to all workers who live in that city.”
Recent posts on an X account reportedly used by Mr. Rodriguez suggest he had become increasingly agitated about the Israel–Gaza war, posting the day of the shooting, “Escalate for Gaza, Bring the War Home,” over text of what is allegedly a manifesto.
The manifesto praises Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself ablaze outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
“Public opinion has shifted against the genocidal apartheid state, and the American government has simply shrugged, they’ll do without public opinion then, criminalize it where they can, suffocate it with bland reassurances that they’re doing all they can to restrain Israel where it cannot criminalize protest outright,” the manifesto states.
The X handle tied to Mr. Rodriguez reposts pro-Hamas and antisemitic statements and calls for removing all Jews from Israel. In January 2024, he posted “De@th 2 Amerikkka.” One post was removed by X because it violated the site’s rules against violent language.
On May 19, his alleged handle posted a screenshot of comments from another site in which the author describes being “in depression” over the past month, as the civilian deaths in Gaza have mounted.
The author compliments a musician’s pro-Palestine song.
“The last traces of fate in ‘humanity’ are gone forever. But this song shines a ray of hope on me. ‘Somewhere over the rainbow,’ the souls of 38,000 dead people (among them of [sic] 17,000 dead children!!!) are rejoicing. i am sure your kite of compassion is reaching them in the skies. it is very brave of you to make a song like this, surrounded by a morbid atmosphere of guilty silence and immoral complicity.”
Mr. Rodriguez was seen pacing back and forth outside the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, moments before he allegedly opened fire on a group of four people leaving the venue.
Police say he then tossed the gun and went inside the museum, where he was detained by the event security. The suspect implied he carried out the shooting.
Video taken by museum attendees showed the suspect chant “Free, Free Palestine” as he was led away in handcuffs.
Authorities did not announce charges against Mr. Rodriguez during a press conference late Wednesday. Steven Jensen, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, said federal investigators are looking into potential terrorism and hate crime offenses for the suspect.
Mr. Rodriguez’s alleged manifesto debates the value of an “armed action” while repeatedly identifying Israel’s offensive campaign against Hamas as a genocide.
“An armed action is not necessarily a military action. It usually is not. Usually it is theater and spectacle, a quality it shares with many unarmed actions,” the manifesto reads, before adding later. “The Israelis themselves boast about their own shock at the free hand the Americans have given them to exterminate the Palestinians.”
Israel launched a war on Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack that killed 1,195 people and wounded many more. Hamas took about 250 hostages, including some Americans, of whom at least 82 have been killed.
Ceasefire talks have stalled over the release of the remaining hostages, and Hamas accuses Israel of blocking aid and launching surprise airstrikes.
