Sarah Milgrim

At 9:08 p.m. on May 21, 2025, in Washington, D.C., a man armed with a handgun opened fire on a group of people outside of the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum, killing two staff members of the Embassy of Israel. The victims, a 30-year-old German-Israeli man named Yaron Lischinsky and a 26-year-old American woman named Sarah Milgrim, were a romantic couple. The couple was gunned down while leaving the museum, which was the venue for a "Young Diplomats Reception" hosted by the American Jewish Committee.

Event security staff apprehended a suspect, Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old resident of Chicago. Rodriguez was filmed yelling "Free, free Palestine!" while handcuffed. The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia stated that the attack was being jointly investigated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as an act of targeted violence.

Background

The Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum, which houses the original building of Adas Israel Congregation—the oldest existing synagogue in D.C., dedicated in 1876—is a Jewish cultural institution that opened approximately two years before the attack. It is less than a mile from Capitol Hill and about 1.3 miles (2 km) from the White House. Shortly before the incident, the museum received a grant intended to enhance security for local non-profit organizations. Museum leaders expressed safety concerns due to the museum's Jewish subject matter and a new LGBTQ exhibit.

The museum was the site of a conference and Jewish networking event hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) for young professionals called "AJC ACCESS Young Diplomats Reception." According to the invitation, the gathering aimed to bring together "Jewish young professionals and the D.C. diplomatic community for an evening dedicated to fostering unity and celebrating Jewish heritage." JoJo Kalin, an AJC board member who organized the event, stated that it was centered on building a coalition to support Palestinians amid the ongoing war. The AJC described the event as a cocktail reception for professionals and diplomats focused on humanitarian diplomacy throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The event was scheduled to last from 6:30-9:00 pm, with two humanitarian aid groups discussing their work: IsraAID (Israeli NGO) and Multifaith Alliance (U.S.-based nonprofit that has provided aid to Gaza).

Israeli diplomats and embassy staff have been victims of violence throughout the longstanding Israeli–Palestinian conflict due to attacks by Palestinian militants, state-backed actors, and lone wolves. Additionally, since the October 7, 2023, attacks and start of the Gaza war, there has been documentation of a sharp rise in antisemitism globally, along with violent incidents against Jews. The Embassy of Israel in D.C. has been the site of several protests since the war began, including the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell.

Shooting

According to Metropolitan Police Department chief Pamela Smith, the suspect arrested at the scene of the shooting had been pacing outside the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum before the killing.

At approximately 9:08 pm on May 21, 2025, the assailant opened fire with a handgun on four individuals, two of whom—Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a couple and Israeli embassy aides—were fatally shot as they were leaving the museum. According to the indictment from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, after the suspect first shot the pair, Milgrim managed to crawl away and sit up, before the assailant reloaded and shot Milgrim several more times. Other Israeli government officials said that other embassy employees were injured in the shooting. Surveillance camera footage showed the assailant firing several rounds at Lischinsky and Milgrim, then leaning over and shooting them again as they tried to crawl away from him. According to FBI, the suspect reloaded his gun once during the shooting, with 21 rounds being fired from a 9 mm caliber firearm. Responding officers found the victims unconscious and not breathing. Despite life-saving efforts, Lischinsky was pronounced dead on the scene and Milgrim was pronounced dead shortly after at the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).

According to Smith, after the shooting, the suspect walked into the museum and was stopped by security staff before being detained. He was let in by a security guard who thought he was an innocent bystander and a victim. Eyewitnesses in the museum said that the suspect looked distressed and had initially been helped and given water before he identified himself as the shooter, and asked for police. Moments before he was detained, he pulled out a red Palestinian-style keffiyeh scarf and declared that he "did it". Videos from witnesses showed the suspect chanting "Free Palestine" as he was being detained. Reportedly, he discarded the weapon used in the shooting but later told the police where it was located; the police then recovered the weapon.

Victims

The two victims, Yaron Lischinsky (c. 1995 – May21, 2025) and Sarah Milgrim (December29, 1998 – May21, 2025), were a couple. Lischinsky was a German-Israeli staff member at the Israeli Embassy, working for around two years as a research assistant with responsibilities that included monitoring developments in the Middle East. Lischinsky had a Christian mother and Jewish father, and practiced Messianic Judaism, while Milgrim came from an American Jewish family and grew up in Reform Judaism. Both recently attended the Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes, an Episcopalian church in D.C., for a few months to explore their faith. Milgrim began working at the Israeli Embassy at the end of 2023, coordinating travel to Israel. Friends and colleagues of Lischinsky and Milgrim said they were both devoted to diplomacy and the peace process in Israel. The event they attended the night of the shooting was organized to discuss how "multi-faith organizations can work together to bring humanitarian aid to war-torn regions like Gaza".

Lischinsky had moved from Nuremberg, Germany, to Israel at the age of 16 before relocating to D.C. to work for the Israeli Embassy. He graduated from Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a degree in International Relations and Asian Studies. He had a master's degree from Reichman University. Lischinsky had served in the Israel Defense Forces, according to Israel's ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor. Milgrim, who grew up in Kansas, had been active in the Jewish community while in college at the University of Kansas. She had moved to D.C. to pursue a master's degree at American University and volunteered in Israel for a year with Tech2Peace, an organization that advocated for peace and dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis. University president Jonathan R. Alger said Milgrim graduated with a degree in International Affairs. Her father said the couple met during the time his daughter was a student. She spent several summers in Israel working with "Palestinian and Israeli groups to bring them together," where she made Palestinian and Israeli friends. Milgrim also has a master's degree from the United Nations for Peace University in Costa Rica. Milgrim worked in the Israeli Embassy's public diplomacy department, responsible for community relations. According to Israeli Ambassador Leiter, Lischinsky was planning to propose to Milgrim in Jerusalem the week following the event.

Yasmina Asrarguis, a French-Moroccan Muslim researcher at Sorbonne University, met Milgrim in Morocco in 2024 during an interfaith fellowship organized by the American Jewish Committee and Mimouna Association. Asrarguis said, " ilgrim'sfinal master's degree research project was on the role of cross-cultural friendships in peace-building ... The Sarah I knew was a practitioner of what might be called peace diplomacy".

On May25, 2025, a funeral service was organized for Lischinsky in Beit Zayit, Jerusalem. The funeral was closed to the media at the family's request. The ceremony was hosted by Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and visited by US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and US-Israel ambassador Mike Huckabee. After the ceremony ended, a tree was planted in memory of the two victims. On May27, 2025, Milgrim's funeral service was held at Congregation Beth Torah, a Reform synagogue in Overland Park, Kansas.

Suspect

Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old Chicago man was arrested as the suspect after being apprehended by event security staff. According to an affidavit, when officers of the D.C. Metropolitan Police initially approached the suspect to arrest him, he said "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed". While being taken away from the scene, he pulled out a red keffiyeh and chanted "Free, free Palestine!". Initial reports state that Rodriguez had no prior contact with police.

Rodriguez was born and raised in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago with an English degree. He previously worked at the nonprofit healthcare American Osteopathic Information Association (AOIA). He also previously worked as an oral history researcher at the HistoryMakers in 2023, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving African-American histories. According to his deleted page from LinkedIn, he previously worked for other nonprofit firms. The email address which he used to sign into the LinkedIn account was also used to register on Twitter. Variations of the same username were used on other social media sites, such as Clubhouse, which displayed his full name and face. His Goodreads account showed that he reviewed books on politics, slavery, the history of Chicago, and Maoism.

According to a briefing by police, Rodriguez came to D.C. on May 20, 2025, for a conference, possibly related to his work at AOIA. Rodriguez's father is a member of Service Employees International Union and is an Iraq War veteran. Rodriguez's two parents were living separately and declined to comment on the shooting. He was a registered voter in Illinois, and campaign financing records show that during the 2020 United States presidential election he donated $500 to Joe Biden's campaign. Rodriguez allegedly owned a GoFundMe account in 2017, that was dedicated to raise money for People's Congress of Resistance, an event in D.C. aimed to “fight the Trump agenda and the Congress of millionaires". In the donation message, Rodriguez recounted his dad's military service in Iraq, stating: "When my dad came home from Baghdad, he came with souvenirs", he added: "I don't want to see another generation of Americans coming home from genocidal imperialist wars with trophies". The account raised $240 in total.

In 2017 Rodriguez was associated with the Marxist–Leninist, communist political party Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). A 2017 article in the newspaper ''Liberation News'' about a Chicago protest put on by the PSL quoted a speech by Rodriguez in which he criticized both the police shooting of Laquan McDonald and gentrification, due to the city's offer of incentives for the location of Amazon's headquarters there. The article identified him as being "from the Party for Socialism and Liberation", "Elias Rodriguez from the Party for Socialism and Liberation...." though in a statement after the shooting, the PSL stated that he was not a member, and that they had no contact with him for more than seven years. A local news report from 2018 identified him as a member of protest umbrella group, A.N.S.W.E.R., which is closely affiliated with the PSL. According to a report by the Network Contagion Research Institute, there are indications that both groups have repeated connections with countries hostile to the United States, such as Iran.

''The New York Times'' found pro-Palestinian signs in the window of a Chicago apartment apparently occupied by Rodriguez, including one that said " Tikkun Olam means free Palestine", referencing the Jewish concept of repairing the world. Other political signs from the apartment were discovered, some facing the street below. One sign called for a ceasefire, and another said "Free Palestine!" in handwritten letters. A third sign said "Justice for Wadea", referring to Wadea al-Fayoume, a boy who was stabbed by his family's landlord motivated by Anti-Palestinianism. Talking to media, Rodriguez's 71-year-old neighbor said there was a picture in Rodriguez's residence's window of "the Palestinian child who was stabbed to death" (Wadea), and that he (the neighbor) was the one "with all the signs in the window". According to people who knew Rodriguez, he was outraged after the murder of Wadea and wanted to avenge his death. Online posts attributed to Rodriguez suggest his desire for revenge increased with the outbreak and course of the Gaza War.

Alleged manifesto and Twitter account

Journalist Ken Klippenstein published Rodriguez's alleged manifesto "Escalate For Gaza, Bring The War Home" which was originally posted on Twitter at 10 pm, hours in advance of his name being revealed by either authorities or any media. The manifesto said that the killings were a political protest against what he called a genocide in Gaza and American support for Israel.

The alleged manifesto was shared in two posts on Twitter during the night of the attack and discovered by the investigative group Gnasher Jew. The manifesto, which was dated May 20, praised Aaron Bushnell, a soldier who self-immolated near the Israeli embassy the previous year. It also condemned the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza war and suggested that the amount might be higher. The manifesto stated: "We who let this happen will never deserve the Palestinians' forgiveness. They've let us know as much". The manifesto called Israel a "genocidal apartheid state" and accused the American government of aiding it, stating that an "armed demonstration" against Israel is a "sane thing to do" for Americans. The manifesto claims that nonviolent protest has swayed public opinion but has not changed American policy. The manifesto also said that the war was the main motive behind the shooting and that his actions "would have been morally justified taken 11 years ago during Protective Edge", during which time he "personally became acutely aware of our brutal conduct in Palestine". The end of the manifesto expressed love for the author's parents, sister, and family, before writing "Free Palestine".

The Twitter account used to post the manifesto has existed since 2013, but made its first post in late October 2023, after the October 7 attacks and beginning of the war, including the hashtag "#FreePalestine". In 2024, the account shared a video of nightclub attendees calling for Tel Aviv to be bombed, described Israel as a colony that had to be "totally extirpated" over a video of Israeli pundits defending the war, and that it would be moral to truck bomb the office of ''The New York Times''. In October 2024, the account reposted two videos of speeches by Hassan Nasrallah, a Lebanese cleric and a Secretary-General of Hezbollah. Members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force are reportedly investigating the manifesto.

Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the D.C. Metropolitan Police are investigating the killing. The suspect was interviewed by FBI and Metropolitan Police shortly after the shooting and his apartment was searched by the FBI. Steven J. Jensen, an assistant director of FBI in D.C., said that the shooting will be investigated as a possible terrorism and hate crime.

According to ''The Washington Post'', authorities believed the suspect had specifically targeted the event at the museum, but had not singled out any individual beforehand. According to FBI, the attack was planned in advance. The suspect flew on a plane from Chicago to Reagan National Airport on May 20, bringing a handgun in his checked luggage, declaring it to the TSA. He also bought a ticket for the event approximately three hours before it began. The police traced the handgun used in the shooting; records showed that it was legally purchased by the suspect on March 6, 2020, in Illinois.

Legal proceedings

After the shooting, the suspect was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, murder of foreign officials and other charges, such as causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm during a crime of violence. While the first-degree murder charges were filed as a violation of the Code of the District of Columbia, which does not have capital punishment, the charges of murdering a foreign official and use of a firearm causing death were filed as federal offenses that are potentially punishable by death. The charges were laid out in a criminal complaint. According to the Jeanine Pirro, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, the suspect appeared in court on May 22 and was informed by a judge that if he is convicted, he may face life imprisonment or the death penalty. That same day, Pirro said it was "far too early" to decide whether to seek the death penalty in the case. The judge set a preliminary hearing for June 18, 2025, which the suspect will await in detention. As the suspect's charges were being read, he remained calm. He was wearing a white prison jumpsuit and glasses.

In a news conference, Pirro said that the charges the suspect faced were "only the beginning" and that prosecutors are investigating evidence of a hate crime and act of terrorism.

Reactions

Domestic

The attack was described by ''The New York Times'' as "an extreme example of what law enforcement officials and others call a global surge in antisemitic incidents" that emerged after the October 7 attacks.

U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the acts via a post on Truth Social shortly after the shooting, stating: "These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!". He added that "Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA." U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and United States Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to prosecute the suspect.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer denounced the killings and antisemitism, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said "We will not tolerate this violence or this hate in our city." Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson also condemned the shooting, calling it a "horrific attack, obviously an antisemitic attack". Former U.S. president, Joe Biden stated that he and his wife Jill Biden were "horrified" by the shooting and that they are praying for the victims. He also said that "Antisemitic violence and hate have no place in our communities". Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also said he was "horrified" by the shooting and attack on the Jewish community. He disclosed that a member of his staff attended the event and was shaken but unharmed.

Prominent pro-Palestinian politicians also condemned the attack, including Representatives Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib. New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wrote that he was "horrified" by the shooting and condemned antisemitism. Journalist Mehdi Hasan, a frequent critic of Israeli actions, condemned the attack. Palestinian American activist Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib denounced the shooting as an "immoral act of antisemitic hate".

The CEO of the American Jewish Committee, Ted Deutch, said in a statement: "We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue," and organizer Jojo Kalin said, "It's 'deeply ironic' that what we were discussing was bridge building and then we were all hit over the head with such hatred". Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt condemned the shooting and said that his "heart breaks for families" of the victims. Other major Jewish organizations reacted to the shooting, with Simon Wiesenthal Center, Lawfare Project, Republican Jewish Coalition, Democratic Majority for Israel, J Street, and Jewish Voice for Peace condemning the shooting and mourning the victims.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the violence was "completely unacceptable" and did not represent millions of Americans peacefully supporting an end to U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza. Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR's Chicago office, said in a statement, "We stand squarely against vigilante violence."

Social media

Various Arab influencers expressed empathy with Rodriguez or skepticism of the account of the shooting in the media. Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian-American writer, in a post on X, called the victims of the shooting "genocide cheerleaders", adding that the shooting "should come as no surprise" and she is "surprised it has not happened sooner". Other Palestinian-Americans condemned the shooting on social media. Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive influencer running for Congress in Illinois, said on Bluesky that "the fact that the gunman said he did it to 'free Palestine' makes me nauseous. Murdering people for their nationality is never acceptable and this violence hurts Jews, Israelis and Palestinians."

Hasan Piker, a Turkish-American left-wing streamer and political commentator, read Rodriguez's manifesto on a Twitch livestream. He expressed his opinion that the shooting did not have an antisemitic motive and "stated his desire to 'understand the mindset' of Rodriguez". Piker's Twitch channel was banned for one day for "improper handling of terrorist propaganda".

Guy Christensen, a 19-year old American pro-Palestinian influencer with more than 3 million followers on TikTok, initially posted a video condemning the murders but not the victims' activities and affiliations. In a later video, however, he posted in support of the shooter, saying "I do not condemn the elimination of the Zionist officials who worked at the Israeli embassy last night." That video was then deleted from his TikTok and Instagram accounts.

Far left groups posted about the shooting, with some condemning it and others supporting it. The Party for Socialism and Liberation, an organization which acknowledged an affiliation with Rodriguez in 2017, said in a post on X that they "reject any attempt to associate PSL with the shooting". The organization would later receive backlash in the comments. Unity of Fields, a far left, anti-imperialist, pro-Palestinian network, announced a "Free Elias Rodriguez Organizing Committee" and posted a video of Rodriguez's arrest on Telegram. The campaign stated that the killings were a "legitimate act of resistance". The Liberation Caucus, a self-described Marxist–Leninist–Maoist subgroup of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) posted on X, "Free Elias Rodriguez and all political prisoners". In DSA's statement on X, they said, "We condemn the murder of Israeli embassy workers. Any statement otherwise is not the stance of DSA." Pro-Israel Congressman Ritchie Torres, in a post on X, condemned the DSA's Liberation Caucus for their "grotesque" statement.

Nick Fuentes, a far-right political commentator, dismissed the shooting and said that it was a false flag attack. Many other posts on X claimed that the shooting was a false flag operation. PolitiFact responded to the posts, rated the claims as “pants on fire” and stated that there is no credible evidence that the shooting was a false flag.

International

On May 22, 2025 United Nations Under-Secretary-General Miguel Ángel Moratinos, acting as High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, strongly condemned the killings in a press statement and wrote, "This heinous antisemitic act is unacceptable and unjustifiable."

Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon called the killings "anti-Semitic terrorism". Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote that Israel and the U.S. "will stand united in defense of our people and our shared values. Terror and hate will not break us." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack. He said that he ordered strengthened security at Israeli embassies worldwide. Some of Netanyahu's cabinet ministers blamed Israeli critics of the Gaza war for inciting the attack. Yair Golan, leader of The Democrats party in Israel, blamed Netanyahu for “fueling antisemitism and hatred of Israel”. The shooting came a day after Israel shot at a group of European, Arab, and Asian diplomats in the West Bank. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described unnamed European officials' reaction to this as "toxic antisemitic incitement" which created the climate for the museum attack.

Other nations and groups to condemn the killings included the European Union, World Jewish Congress, France, Germany, India, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Prime ministers of Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Ukraine, Finland, Norway and Latvia also condemned the shooting on social media. An Iranian government controlled daily newspaper, ''Kayhan'', has refused to condemn the killings, instead calling the suspect "our dear brother" who "sent two zionist dogs to hell" and "founded the Washington Basij".

See also

* 2025 Boulder fire attack
* 2025 Pennsylvania Governor's Residence arson
* 2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators
* List of attacks against Israeli embassies and diplomats

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killing of Israeli Embassy workers in Washington, D.C., 2025
2025 in international relations
2025 in Judaism
2025 in Washington, D.C.
2025 murders in the United States
May 2025 crimes in the United States
Anti-Israeli sentiment in the United States
Attacks in the United States in 2025
Deaths by firearm in Washington, D.C.
Israel–United States relations
Jews and Judaism in Washington, D.C.
Violent incidents in reaction to the Gaza war