Elias Rodriguez, aged 30 from Chicago, has been named as the sole suspect in the double murder by shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., of two Israeli embassy staff workers on May 21, 2025. The shooting, targeting the victims while they were leaving an event for humanitarian aid to Gaza, has caused global outrage and beckoned for open investigation into ideological extremism and security weakness.
Background and early life
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois native Rodriguez has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before the shooting, Rodriguez worked as an oral history researcher for The HistoryMakers, a not-for-profit organization committed to documenting African American accomplishment. He was known to colleagues as a “quiet professional” who enjoyed writing fiction and attending live music performances. Though there are unverified social media reports of association with far-left organizations such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Black Lives Matter, these associations have not been confirmed by the authorities. There is a LinkedIn profile reportedly belonging to Rodriguez which shows experience in content writing for tech companies, which the authorities have yet to verify.
The attack and immediate aftermath
Late in the afternoon of May 21, Rodriguez was filmed “walking back and forth” outside the Capital Jewish Museum prior to approaching a group of four and shooting Israeli embassy staff members Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 27. The witnesses said Rodriguez entered the museum close to the time of shooting, where he behaved as a witness before saying, “I did it for Gaza” and “Free Palestine”. Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith testified that Rodriguez led the officers to where the abandoned gun had been and admitted in questioning.
The couple, whom Israeli Ambassador Yech Leiter characterized as a “young couple” engaged to be married, were present at a reception sponsored by the American Jewish Committee to discuss coalition-building in order to assist the relief effort in Gaza. Event planner JoJo Kalin was astounded, having commented on the bitter irony that violence broke out after a discussion of “building bridges.”
Ideological motivations and manifesto
One of Rodriguez’s manifestos, printed by an American blogger, is a typical case of an ideological militant manifesto based on resistance to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The manifesto denounces U.S. support for Israel, using Gaza’s death toll and blaming Western governments for letting a “genocide” occur. Rodriguez justified his actions as a reaction to “11 years of brutal behavior in Palestine”, Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge. As the legitimacy of the manifesto remains questioned, its link to Rodriguez’s allegedly shouting “Free Palestine” when being arrested has put him under more scrutiny.
Ongoing investigations and searches
The FBI Washington Field Office, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Police, is pursuing a two-tracked probe of potential terrorism links and allegations of hate crimes. Federal agents on May 22 searched Rodriguez’s Albany Park residence in Chicago under a warrant, taking electronic equipment and documents. Rodriguez had no criminal record or known affiliation with monitored extremist groups, authorities say. But his social media posts, reportedly containing anti-Zionist posts, are under scrutiny.
Reactions and condemnations
The attack was condemned by Israeli President Isaac Herzog as a “reprehensible act of hatred and antisemitism”, with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem promising to “see the depraved perpetrator brought to justice”. The “antisemitic” attacks were condemned by President Donald Trump, who announced that “radicalism has no place in the USA”. Israel’s Embassy labeled Rodriguez a “terrorist,” putting special emphasis on the fact that the victims were attacked because of nationality alone.
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