Elias Rodriguez, the suspect in the shooting deaths of two Israeli Embassy staffers, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and the murder of foreign officials, among other charges.
Rodriguez is suspected of killing Israeli Embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim on Wednesday evening outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington.
In addition to the murder charges, court documents revealed Rodriguez was charged with causing the death of a person with a firearm and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Jeanine Pirro, the new interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., called the shooting a “horrific crime” at a press conference Thursday, adding that it was not “the act of a hero” and that “antisemitism will not be tolerated, especially in the nation’s capital.”
GUNMAN ACCUSED OF KILLING TWO ISRAELIS IN DC CHANTED ‘FREE PALESTINE’ WHILE IN POLICE CUSTODY
Upon being arrested, Rodriguez was seen on video chanting “free, free Palestine.” He is linked to the revolutionary communist group known as the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which advocates overthrowing capitalism.
Pirro vowed that the shooting would be investigated as a hate crime and a “crime of terrorism.” The charges against Rodriguez carry the possibility of the death penalty.