WASHINGTON AND THE NATION are on edge after two staffers with the Israeli Embassy were fatally shot in an apparent politically motivated, antisemitic attack at an event outside the Capital Jewish Museum.
The staffers, Sarah Milgrim, 26, and Yaron Lischinsky, 30, were a couple and known figures in the Israeli-American political community in Washington.
“The young man purchased a ring this week,” Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter told reporters.
Rodriguez allegedly approached a group of four people attending the American Jewish Committee’s annual Young Diplomats Reception shortly after 9 p.m., before opening fire at close range, killing Milgrim and Lischinsky.
He then walked into the museum, where he waved a red keffiyeh. As he was arrested he shouted, “free, free Palestine.”
The FBI is investigating the killings as an act of terror.
OUTPOURING OF GRIEF AND ANGER
President Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced global pressure to end the war in Gaza and address the humanitarian crisis there.
“My heart grieves for the families of the young beloveds, whose lives were cut short in a moment by an abhorrent antisemitic murderer,” Netanyahu said.
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said the “horrific incident” would “frighten a lot of people.”
“We will not tolerate this violence or hate in our city,” she said. “We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism.”
SECURITY RAMPS UP
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was on the scene shortly after the shooting, said U.S. Marshals are on heightened alert as they secure the Israeli embassy in Washington.
The Capital Jewish Museum said they’re working to re-open in the coming days “with all necessary security in place, so we can return to telling the story of Jewish Washington for thousands of visitors from around the world.”
In Chicago, New York, Miami and other cities, law enforcement ramped up security at synagogues, Jewish schools and other cultural institutions.
TRAGEDY COLLIDES WITH POLITICS
The tragedy was inseparable from political conversations happening in Washington around the war in Gaza and the Trump administration’s efforts to punish universities that allowed for widespread pro-Palestinian protests.
Democratic lawmakers that are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause released statements denouncing violence.
“I am appalled by the deadly shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum last night,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) posted on X. “Holding the victims, their families, and loved ones in my thoughts and prayers. Violence should have no place in our country.”
The White House leaned into its argument that elite universities had allowed rampant antisemitism to run unchecked.
“We have seen a rise in antisemitic protests of pro Hamas protests of terrorist sympathizers, we saw them on our college campuses, and we’ve seen the Democrat Party turn a blind eye and in some cases actually embrace such antisemitic illegal behavior,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The Trump administration told Harvard University on Thursday it will no longer be allowed to enroll international students, significantly escalating Trump’s war on the university.
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• Israeli Embassy staff killed outside Jewish Museum in DC: What we know.
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• Who is Elias Rodriguez, who killed two Israelis in Washington?
• Netanyahu says 'it appears' Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar was killed.
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