The gunman who fatally shot two Israeli Embassy employees outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., has been identified as Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old resident of Chicago with past ties to a far-left communist organization.
Rodriguez is accused of killing Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgram, 26, late Wednesday as they exited a private event for young diplomats at the museum. The victims, both employees of Israel’s embassy in Washington, were shot at close range. Authorities say the shooter later fled into the museum, where he was arrested. Witnesses say he yelled “Free Palestine!” during his arrest and confessed to the shooting.
According to investigators, Rodriguez did not know the victims personally and was unaware they worked for the Israeli embassy. Israeli officials believe the attack was antisemitic, targeting Jewish individuals at a Jewish institution. No other embassy staff were present at the event.
Rodriguez has no known criminal history and was not on any law enforcement watchlists.
Social media footage and eyewitness accounts show Rodriguez initially posing as a witness at the scene. He reportedly accepted water from bystanders and asked them to call police before pulling a red keffiyeh from his pocket and declaring, “I did it for Gaza. Free Palestine!” A witness told CNN that Rodriguez added: “There’s only one solution—intifada, revolution!”
Rodriguez was previously affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a U.S.-based communist group that advocates revolution against capitalism. The group confirmed Thursday that Rodriguez had a brief involvement with one of its local branches, which ended in 2017. “We have had no contact with him in the last seven years,” the PSL said in a statement, rejecting any connection to the shooting.
A 2017 report in the group’s publication, Liberation, identified Rodriguez as a speaker at a protest outside the Chicago mayor’s residence. The protest was held in response to the police shooting of Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager, and criticized what demonstrators called “ethnic cleansing.” In his speech, Rodriguez drew a link between systemic racism and Amazon’s corporate expansion, accusing the tech giant of contributing to gentrification and racial inequality.
“The wealth Amazon brought to Seattle hasn’t been shared with its Black residents,” Rodriguez reportedly said. “Do we want a country of cities run and occupied by corporations where only the wealthy and white can live, while the rest are pushed to the margins?”
Rodriguez’s LinkedIn profile lists him as an administrative specialist at the American Osteopathic Association in Chicago. A biography on The HistoryMakers, an online archive of African American stories, notes he previously worked there as an oral history researcher. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has worked as a content writer for technology firms.\
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The shooting has drawn widespread condemnation. President Donald Trump and several European leaders called the attack an antisemitic act of terror. Israeli officials have raised security at diplomatic missions and Jewish institutions around the world, warning of potential copycat attacks. Flags at Israeli embassies were lowered to half-staff.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Leichter said Lischinsky and Milgram had been planning to get engaged. Lischinsky, originally from Germany, immigrated to Israel at 16 and served in the Israeli military. Milgram coordinated embassy visits. “They were in the prime of their lives,” the embassy said in a statement. “We are heartbroken by this devastating loss.”