IsraelinUSA / X
The man who allegedly murdered two young Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, DC, in May has been indicted on federal and local charges, including charges that carry a maximum penalty of death or life in jail, according to an Aug. 7 press release from the US Attorney’s Office.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, allegedly shot and killed Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, a young couple, outside of the Capital Jewish Museum May 21 in an apparent antisemitic attack. According to the release, the indictment alleges that before the attack, Rodriguez traveled from Chicago to Washington, DC, with a handgun and penned a manifesto writing that “[t]hose of us against the genocide take satisfaction in arguing that the perpetrators and abettors have forfeited their humanity.”
During the shooting, he allegedly called out “Free Palestine” and fired approximately 20 shots.
According to the release, Rodriguez has been charged with “the murder of a foreign official, causing death through the use of a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. In addition, he had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder under the D.C. criminal code.”
“The indictment adds two federal counts of hate crime resulting in death and two local counts of assault with intent to kill while armed,” the release states. The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is prosecuting the case, which is also being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Metropolitan Police Department.
If found guilty, Rodriguez will be eligible for the death penalty, according to release. The US Attorney General will determine at a later date whether to pursue that.
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro gave an update on the probe in an Aug. 7 press conference, according to The Hill.
Pirro explained that the indictment also includes a notice of special findings of the grand jury in the case.
One such finding, she said, is that Rodriguez allegedly “committed an offense against Sarah Milburn in an especially heinous and cruel and depraved manner, in that it involved serious physical abuse to Sarah Milgram, who was particularly vulnerable due to infirmity.”
She closed the statement by sharing that she spoke with Milgram and Lischinsky’s parents.
“These are people who are broken because of one man’s actions,” Pirro stated. “These are people who should have been in-laws, [but] because of one man’s action they will never be able to celebrate a marriage that was intended, or the grandchildren that would have resulted.”
As CatholicVote previously reported, before the attack, Lischinsky, a Christian, was preparing to propose to Milgrim, and had recently purchased a ring.