A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted on hate crime charges the man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, newly faces two counts of hate crime resulting in death and two assault counts. It adds to an original batch of charges unveiled in May.
Federal prosecutors also moved closer to pursuing the death penalty by including a notice of special findings outlining aggravating factors that could make Rodriguez eligible for execution, if convicted.
“This office will leave no stone unturned in its effort to bring justice to the innocent victims of Elias Rodriguez,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said in a statement. “The hate charges shed further light on his evil intent in the killing of innocent victims.”
Rodriguez stands accused of gunning down a young couple who worked for the Israeli Embassy — Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26 — on May 21 just outside D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum as they were leaving an event.
Shortly after the shooting, Rodriguez allegedly told event attendees “I did it for Palestine” and yelled at them, “Shame on you.”
The indictment states Rodriguez one day prior authored a document saying he takes “satisfaction” in arguing the “perpetrators and abettors have forfeited their humanity.” He allegedly scheduled it to post on social media in the hours after the shooting.
“A perpetrator may then be a loving parent, a filial child, a generous and charitable friend, an amiable stranger…, and yet be a monster all the same. Humanity doesn’t exempt one from accountability,” Rodriguez wrote, according to the indictment.
The charging documents also detail several social media posts Rodriguez made in the months leading up to the incident. It includes one in May 2024, when Rodriguez allegedly sent a direct message that said “please please please god please vaporize every Israeli 18 and above.”
The Hill has reached out to Rodriguez’s attorney for comment.
He was due to appear before a magistrate judge on Friday, but the hearing was cancelled after the latest charges surfaced. A new hearing is set to be scheduled soon, where Rodriguez will enter a plea before the district judge who will oversee the trial proceedings.
The new hate crime and assault charges add to a criminal complaint that prosecutors unveiled in May. The indictment also includes those original charges of murder of foreign officials, two counts of first-degree murder and two firearms charges.
Updated at 11:53 a.m. EDT
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