OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
Thursday, August 7, 2025
Update: 4:13 PM: Judge Jeanine Pirro, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, has announced charges against the alleged killer of two Israeli Embassy staff members.
On Wednesday, an indictment was filed against 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, the alleged murderer of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky. The couple was killed in May when they were leaving the Capitol Jewish Museum.
There are nine charges in total, according to Pirro: one count of first-degree murder of a foreign official, two counts of hate crimes resulting in death, two counts of discharging a firearm while committing crime causing death, two counts of first-degree murder while armed, and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.
Pirro confirmed that the death penalty is on the table for Rodriguez in light of the charges he currently faces. She stated that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has “made no decision yet” on whether they will “seek death” should her office be authorized to do so based on the review of the case’s special findings.
Special findings attached in the indictment note the especially cruel circumstances surrounding the murder of Milgrim, emphasizing her vulnerability “due to infirmity.”
Pirro explained that she spoke to both Milgrim and Lischinsky’s parents prior to her appearance before the press.
“These are people who are broken because of one man’s actions,” she said of the victims’ parents. “These are people who should have been in-laws, but because of one man’s action, they will never be able to celebrate a marriage that was intended, or the grandchildren that would have resulted.”
The families will have “an opportunity and a right to put their input into what decision is ultimately made” regarding the suspect’s sentencing.
“I want to make something perfectly clear. Violence against anyone in this district will not be tolerated. Especially violence which has hate at its core and is the genesis of violence,” Pirro proclaimed. “The president put me here to do a job, to clean up the district, to make sure that crime doesn’t overshadow this phenomenal city, our nation’s capital.”
4:13 PM – Wednesday, August 6, 2025: The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly poised to pursue federal hate crime charges and ultimately, the death penalty, in regard to the suspected killer of two Israeli Embassy staff members.
On May 21st, 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky, a German Israeli, and 26-year-old Sarah Lynn Milgrim, a U.S. citizen from Kansas, were fatally shot at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., as they left the Capital Jewish Museum. They were romantically involved and planning to eventually get married.
“It was the cutest love story,” an official said, “like a poster for a Netflix rom-com.”
They had an upcoming trip to Israel planned, allowing Milgrim to meet Lischinsky’s family for the first time. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Lischinsky had recently purchased an engagement ring and was planning to propose to Milgrim on the trip after meeting her parents.
The shooting did not occur at the Israeli Embassy itself, but rather outside the museum, where an event was being held.
On the night of their death, the suspected shooter, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, could be heard chanting: “Free Palestine!” authorities stated.
After the suspect purportedly shot the couple, he moved closer and then fired “several more times,” making sure they were dead. According to charging documents, 21 rounds were fired in total from a 9 mm handgun, which was later found nearby. The weapon was traced back to Rodriguez and had allegedly been illegally purchased by him in March 2020 in Illinois.
Prosecutors allege that when police arrived at the scene, Rodriguez asked to speak with them directly, saying: “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza.” He was subsequently arrested.
Rodriguez has been linked to the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a far-left and anti-Israel group active across several social media platforms. The group confirmed Rodriguez to be a member, but claimed no association with him “in over seven years.”
The Justice Department is now seeking to indict Rodriguez on federal hate crime charges this week, according to sources familiar with the case. The DOJ indicated in the indictment that they can pursue capital punishment for the crime, including the death penalty.
For this case, prosecutors need to prove that the shooting was motivated by antisemitism beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the crimes were motivated by prejudice against an individual’s “race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity,” according to the FBI.
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