Israeli Embassy suspect charged with murder of a foreign official

The man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., was on Thursday charged with murder of foreign officials and other charges, according to court filings.  

Elias Rodriguez, 30, is set to make his first court appearance a day after allegedly gunning down a young couple who worked for the embassy — Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26 — after an event at the museum Wednesday night. Police officials said he shouted “free, free Palestine” following his arrest.  

He faces five charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, a criminal complaint shows.  

Police said Rodriguez, of Chicago, approached a group of four people leaving an event at the museum shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday. He fired at close range, killing Lischinsky and Milgrim, before walking into the museum, where he was apprehended.  

The attack drew sharp rebuke from U.S. and global leaders. Both President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried the killings as a result of antisemitism.  

“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social early Thursday morning. 

Netanyahu called the deaths “the terrible price of anti-Semitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel.” 

The FBI previously said early indications are that the shooting was a targeted act of violence.  

The victims were soon set to be engaged, according to Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter. He told reporters that Lischinsky had purchased a ring and planned to propose in Jerusalem next week.