Authorities charged the defendant with finishing up a hate crime, with the homicide of the embassy officers described as calculated and deliberate.
A person accused of taking pictures useless two Israeli embassy workers members in Washington, DC, has been indicted on federal hate crime and homicide expenses, as President Donald Trump recommended he could name on the Nationwide Guard to convey down crime charges in the US capital.
Court docket paperwork filed in federal court docket in Washington and unsealed on Wednesday present that defendant Elias Rodriguez has been charged with 9 counts, together with a hate crime leading to demise.
The 30-year-old is accused of taking pictures useless Israeli embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a younger couple who have been about to turn out to be engaged, as they left an occasion on the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington in Might.
Rodriguez, who witnesses described as pacing exterior the museum earlier than the assault, approached the couple and opened fireplace.
Surveillance footage then confirmed him advance on Lischinsky and Milgrim as they fell to the bottom, firing extra photographs as he stood over them. Rodriguez appeared to reload earlier than jogging off, in accordance with officers.
Two different individuals who have been standing with the couple on the time of the assault escaped unhurt.
Rodriguez then entered the museum and confessed to the killings. He was heard shouting “Free Palestine” as he was led away. Rodriguez additionally informed police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza “, in accordance with federal authorities.
Prosecutors described the killings as calculated and deliberate in court docket papers, alleging that Rodriguez flew to Washington from Chicago with a handgun in his checked baggage. Authorities additionally claimed Rodriguez bought a ticket for the American Jewish Committee-organised occasion on the museum three hours earlier than it began.
Rodriguez was beforehand charged with the homicide of international officers and different crimes. Prosecutors added the hate crimes expenses after bringing the case to a grand jury.
Additionally included within the indictment is a discover of particular findings permitting the Division of Justice to doubtlessly pursue the demise penalty.
Prosecutors at the moment are tasked with proving that Rodriguez was motivated by anti-Semitism when he opened fireplace on Lischinsky and Milgrim.
Lischinsky was a analysis assistant on the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, whereas Milgrim organised journeys to Israel for the embassy. Lischinsky, a German-Israeli citizen, had reportedly purchased an engagement ring days earlier than he and Milgrim, a Jewish US citizen, have been killed.
Additionally on Wednesday, President Trump stated he could deploy the Nationwide Guard to police Washington’s streets, telling reporters exterior the White Home that the capital is “very unsafe” and it “needs to be the best-run place within the nation”.
“We’re going to beautify town. We’re going to make it stunning. And what a disgrace, the speed of crime, the speed of muggings, killings and all the pieces else. We’re not going to let it,” Trump stated.
“And that features bringing within the Nationwide Guard, possibly in a short time, too,” he added.
Trump made his newest risk of a federal takeover of the US capital after a staffer who was a part of the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) was assaulted throughout a carjacking over the weekend.
Based on data on the police division’s web site, violent crime in Washington was down 26 p.c within the first seven months of 2025 in contrast with final 12 months, whereas total crime was down some 7 p.c.