Federal prosecutors have filed accusations against a man suspected of fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staff workers in the US capital of Washington, D.C.
In federal court on Thursday, Elias Rodriguez was accused of two counts of first-degree murders, killing foreigners, causing death with firearms, and abandoning firearms in a violent crime.
At a subsequent press conference, interim US lawyer Janine Piro warned that these charges were just the beginning and that her prosecutors were cooperating through evidence of other crimes.
“This is a horrible crime and these crimes will not be tolerated by me and this office,” Piro said.
“We will continue to investigate this as a hate crime and a terrorist crime. We will add additional charges so that the evidence is justified.”
Rodriguez is accused of shooting and killing American Israeli citizens Jaron Lisinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who are employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC.
The attack took place around 9:08 pm on Wednesday evening (Thursday 01:08 GMT) as two employees left an event hosted by the Pro-Israel American Jewish Commission at the Capital Jewish Museum. Both were declared dead at the scene.
Staff at the Israeli Embassy say the young couple will be working for the next few days.
“The young couple, at the beginning of their journey of life, are about to engage in, in other countries – the cold of the night, foreign cities, removed their bodies in body bags. We are not going to tolerate it anymore,” Piro said.
“This is the kind of case that chooses old pain and old scars, because these types of cases remind us of things that have happened in the past that we will never forget, and should never be forgotten.”
She noted that the Wednesday night attack took place at a museum, which includes one of Washington’s oldest synagogues, in the heart of the city.
Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said the suspect chanted “Free Palestine! Free Palestine!” After filming. Rodriguez, a native of Chicago, appears to have identified himself with police and was arrested shortly after the shooting.
A federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit says Rodriguez told police.
The shooting has been widely condemned, but as Israel spreads global rage over the war with Gaza, the lockdown comes as millions of Palestinians face no food or basic supplies.
Human rights groups and UN experts compared the war that killed at least 53,000 people with ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Since the war began on October 7, 2023, Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities have all reported an increase in harassment and racism.
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s shootings, officials opposed anti-Semitism, and President Donald Trump’s administration has pledged to pursue all legal paths against suspects.
“The Justice Department will prosecute perpetrators who are responsible for this to the fullest extent of the law,” White House press chief Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. “Under President Donald Trump, there is no hatred in the United States.”
She went on to compare anti-war protests at American universities, which are largely peaceful and “anti-Semitic misconduct.” But protest leaders have largely denied anti-Semite hatred.
In the wake of the shooting, a member of the US Congress told Fox News that the “Palestinian cause” was “evil.” Republican leader Randy Fine continued by suggesting that the Gaza War should end, like World War II, with the nuclear bombings of Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“We spewed the Japanese twice to make an unconditional surrender,” he said. “It has to be the same here. There’s something deep, deep wrong with this culture, and you have to be defeated.”
Separately, the Israeli government has condemned the shooting as an attack on the state.
“We are witnessing the horrific costs of anti-Semitism and wild agitation against Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.