Suspect In Deadly Israeli Embassy Attack Hit With New Terrorism Charges

Federal prosecutors filed new terrorism-related charges against Elias Rodriguez, the keffiyeh-wearing man accused of murdering Israeli Embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim earlier this year.

The 13-count superseding indictment was unsealed on Wednesday, showing that 31-year-old Rodriguez was charged with an additional four counts of committing acts of terrorism while armed, along with a federal aggravating factor alleging substantial planning and premeditation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Rodriguez’s previous charges included murder of a foreign official, causing death through the use of a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, two federal counts of hate crime resulting in death, and two counts each of first-degree premeditated murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed under the D.C. criminal code.

Some of the charges carry a possible sentence of death or life imprisonment.

“My office will not rest in our efforts to hold Elias Rodriguez accountable for this horrific and targeted act of terror against Yaron Lischinsky, Sarah Milgrim, and our Jewish community,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. “These additional terrorism-related charges carry a mandatory life sentence under D.C. Code, while also reflecting the reality that this act was in fact an act of terror.”

Lischinsky, 30, and Milgrim, 28, were allegedly shot and killed by Rodriguez outside of an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in May. He allegedly fired approximately 20 shots from a handgun and shouted “Free Palestine,” according to the indictment.

After the shooting, he entered the museum wearing a red keffiyeh, where attendees were still present, and said, “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza.”

While being arrested, he shouted “shame on you” and “shame on Zio-nazi terror,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox of the Washington Field Office, Rodriguez wrote and published a manifesto “attempting to morally justify his actions and inspire others to commit political violence.”

Lischinsky was a German-Israeli dual citizen and a devout evangelical Christian. He immigrated to Israel at 16, served in the Israel Defense Forces, and began working as a political analyst at the embassy in 2022.

He was planning to propose to Milgrim, who grew up in the Kansas City suburbs and was a full-time employee at the embassy’s Department of Public Diplomacy.