The US Department of Justice will seek the death penalty for Elias Rodriguez, the man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli embassy outside Washington DC's Capital Jewish Museum last year. Prosecutors filed notice on Friday, citing hate crime and murder charges.
Rodriguez, who shouted 'free Palestine' during the attack, faces federal charges for the deaths of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. The couple, who were about to become engaged, were leaving an event at the museum on 21 May 2025 when they were shot. Milgrim was a US citizen, while Lischinsky was an Israeli national working in the US.
According to his indictment, Rodriguez later told police, 'I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.' The charges include a hate crime resulting in death, with special findings that allow prosecutors to pursue capital punishment. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro confirmed the decision at a news conference, stating, 'DC is not the place for political violence.'
Prosecutors described the killings as calculated and planned. Rodriguez flew from Chicago to Washington with a handgun in his checked luggage. Witnesses saw him pacing outside the museum before opening fire on a group of four. Surveillance footage shows him advancing on the victims as they fell, firing additional shots, then reloading before fleeing.
After the shooting, Rodriguez entered the museum and declared, 'I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed.' He also told detectives he admired an air force member who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in February 2024, calling him 'courageous' and a 'martyr'.
