Here's what we know about the socialist activist arrested for killing Israeli embassy staffers in DC

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Here's what we know about the socialist activist arrested for killing Israeli embassy staffers in DC

Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, has been identified by authorities as the suspected shooter.

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May 22, 2025 minute read

A socialist, pro-Palestinian activist was arrested for allegedly shooting a couple dead on Wednesday night in Washington, DC, outside the Capital Jewish Museum. The couple were staffers from the Israeli Embassy in the nation's capital and were about to get engaged.  

Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, has been identified by authorities as the suspected shooter. Video of Rodriguez getting arrested showed him yelling "Free, free Palestine," and he has a history of engaging in leftist ideologies such as socialism. Israeli diplomat Yaron Lischinsky and his girlfriend Sarah Milgrim were the victims of the deadly shooting; they were set to be engaged.

A person with the same name also belonging to the Party for Socialism and Liberation had made a donation before on a fundraising page for Gaza, and wrote a note stating, "I as an individual cannot stop this violence to the people of Palestine, but I can at least help the little boy who made a difference to me, I urge other to help as much as possible, no child should experience such horrible things. Free Palestine" (sic).

Additionally, the Daily Mail has also reported images appearing to be of Rodriguez at BLM protests in 2017. The alleged killer's work profile had him working at the non-profit organization, TheHistoryMakers, with his biography stating that he was an "oral history researcher" on African American communities.

There was an alleged manifesto from Rodriguez that stated, according to the outlet, "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.

Leading up to the shooting, police said that they saw Rodriguez pacing back and forth in front of the museum and then approached a group of people where Lischinsky and Milgrim were, and shot them at point-blank range.

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