Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
People attend a candlelight vigil at Lafayette Square across from the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2025, the day after the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum
(JNS) — Elias Rodriguez, 31, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and murder of foreign officials, among other charges that did not include terrorism or hate crimes, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday.
“This brutal, antisemitic violence has no place in our country or anywhere in civilization,” said Pam Bondi, the U.S. attorney general. “We will follow the facts and secure the most severe possible punishment for the perpetrator of this heinous crime, which robbed two wonderful young people of a bright future together.”
At about 9:08 p.m. on Wednesday night, Rodrigues shot and killed two people outside the Capital Jewish Museum, the site of “an event related to Jewish diplomatic and business relations, hosted by the American Jewish Committee, that aimed to ‘bring together Jewish young professionals and the D.C diplomatic community,’” per the complaint.
The complaint noted that “several members of the United States-based Israeli diplomatic mission” attended the event.
The D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services transported Sarah Milgrim, who sustained “multiple gunshot wounds,” to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia, per the complaint. She was pronounced dead at 9:35 p.m.
Members of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services pronounced Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen who was an “official guest” of the U.S. government, dead at 9:14 p.m. on the scene, the complaint states.
As Metropolitan Police Department officers canvassed the area, Rodriguez told an officer that he “did it.” Officers identified him as Elias A. Rodriguez by his Illinois license and firearm owner ID card, per the complaint.
“Rodriguez spontaneously stated on scene to MPD, ‘I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza. I am unarmed,’” the complaint states. “Rodriguez was holding a red scarf identified by one witness as a ‘keffiyeh.’ As MPD officers were escorting Rodriguez from the museum, he shouted, ‘Free Palestine.’”
Police officers reviewed video footage of a person dressed “consistent with the clothing worn by Rodriguez” shooting two people outside the museum. After the two fell to the ground, per the complaint, Rodriguez is captured approaching, leaning over them and firing “several more times.” As Milgrim tried to crawl away, “he followed behind her and fired again,” the complaint alleges. When he seemed to reload, she sat up, and he then fired “several times” more at her.
The D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences subsequently found 21 used 9mm casings and the gun “with its slide locked, indicating that no ammunition was remaining.” The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traced the recovered gun and found that Rodriguez bought it in Illinois on March 6, 2020, per the complaint.
Rodriguez told D.C. detectives that he admired “the actions of an individual who self-immolated in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 2024, as a form of protest intended to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and “described this person’s actions as courageous and labeled him a ‘martyr,’” per the complaint.
“Rodriguez also stated that he had purchased a ticket to the event at the museum approximately three hours prior to its commencement,” it said.
The complaint added that Rodriguez flew on United Airlines from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on May 20 and declared that he had a gun in his checked baggage.
