Prosecutors seek death penalty for man charged with killing Israeli DC embassy staffers
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro says shooting of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim motivated by ‘political, ideological, national, and religious bias, contempt, and hatred’
The suspect in the shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers at the Capital Jewish Museum, Elias Rodriguez, shouts 'Free Palestine' as he is arrested, May 21, 2025. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
WASHINGTON — Prosecutors said Friday that they will seek the death penalty for a Chicago man charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers in the US capital last year.
Elias Rodriguez was arrested immediately after the May 21 shooting of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and his fiancée, Sarah Milgrim, 26, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a court filing that prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Rodriguez, who faces murder, firearms and hate crime charges.
“Rodriguez’s actions were motivated by political, ideological, national, and religious bias, contempt, and hatred,” Pirro said.
Rodriguez allegedly shouted “Free Palestine” as he was taken away by police after the shooting and told officers, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”
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According to the FBI, Rodriguez is believed to have acted alone, motivated by “anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian ideology.”
Yaron Lischinsky, right, and his partner Sarah Milgrim, both employees of the Israeli Embassy in the US who were killed in a shooting in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025, in an undated photo. (Israeli Embassy in Washington)
Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, was a researcher at the Israeli embassy, while Milgrim, an American, worked for its public diplomacy department. The couple was engaged to be married.
US President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and has called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”
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