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Accused DC Shooter Elias Rodriguez Idolized Man Who Set Himself on Fire Outside Israeli Embassy: Court Documents

Elias Rodriguez, 30, from Chicago, taken into custody by police for allegedly shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
The suspect who allegedly murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night expressed admiration for a man who set himself on fire outside the embassy last year to protest the war in Gaza, according to newly released court documents.
Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old left-wing and anti-Israel activist from Chicago, was charged on Thursday in US federal court with two counts of first-degree murder. He is accused of fatally shooting Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, a young couple about to become engaged to be married, as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum for young professionals and diplomatic staff hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
In addition to murder, Rodriguez was charged in a criminal complaint with murder of foreign officials, causing death with a firearm, and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence.
An affidavit filed by US federal authorities in support of the criminal complaint charging Rodriguez revealed that he said at the scene of the shooting, “I did it for Palestine; I did it for Gaza.” He also chanted “Free Palestine, Free Palestine” after being taken into custody, according to video of the incident.
The court document also explained that Rodriguez told law enforcement that he idolized Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old serviceman of the US Air Force who died after setting himself on fire outside the front gate of the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, in February 2024. Bushnell was protesting Israel’s military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. He said in a video of the incident that he would “no longer be complicit in genocide” and chanted “Free Palestine” while pouring liquid over himself and igniting it.
“During an interview with MPD [Metropolitan Police Department] detectives, after having been advised of his Miranda rights and after waiving them, Rodriguez expressed admiration for the actions of an individual who self-immolated in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, on Feb. 25, 2024, as a form of protest intended to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the affidavit stated. “Rodriguez described this person’s actions as courageous and labeled him a ‘martyr.’”
As Jewish communities worldwide deal with the shock of Wednesday night’s shooting, details have emerged about Rodriguez showing he has maintained ties to extremist left-wing groups and held virulent anti-Israel views.
Rodriguez was involved with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a far-left organization that has previously called for the “extermination” of all Zionists, according to a review of his history and information obtained by The Algemeiner.
The Chicago chapter of PSL has routinely called for violence and “armed resistance” against Israel. The organization declares that Israel is an “apartheid state” and a result of “settler-colonialism,” while venerating Hamas as a legitimate “resistance.” PSL has also expressed open support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist group, and has hosted reading sessions of works penned by PFLP founder Ghassan Kanafani.
PSL holds large rallies in which attendees openly endorse terrorism against the Jewish state and call for its elimination. Earlier this month, PSL joined a coalition of other far-left organizations to hold a protest outside of the Israeli consulate in Chicago.
In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, PSL organized an event titled “Gaza Fights for Freedom.” Additionally, PSL Chicago partnered with several prominent anti-Israel organizations, such as the ANSWER Coalition, CODEPINK, Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), and the Palestine Feminist Collective.
In the aftermath of Wednesday night’s shooting, PSL has attempted to distance itself from Rodriguez, claiming that the alleged murderer is only associated with the group in a limited capacity and does not currently hold a membership. However, in an April 2025 picture posted to Facebook, a person resembling Rodriguez participated in a “Socialist Reconstruction Study Group” workshop hosted by PSL.
“Through collective study, we mapped the contradictions of US foreign policy and discussed tactics to organize within the imperial core,” the group said of the gathering. “By understanding imperialism’s motivations, we explored the revolutionary possibilities that emerge in its wake — and how to build that future now, through concrete struggle.”
Rodriguez is also suspected to have maintained an anonymous X/Twitter account, in which he called for violence against Israel. The account, named “kyodo.leather,” was started just two weeks after the Oct. 7 slaughters in Israel. It endorsed a video calling to “bomb Tel Aviv” and praised the conduct of the Hamas terrorist group. The social media account also allegedly shared videos glorifying Hasan Nasrallah, the now-deceased leader of Hezbollah, another Islamist terrorist organization.
Early Thursday, investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein published a manifesto allegedly belonging to Rodriguez. In the 900-word document, Rodriguez seemingly confirms that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war motivated him to act.
“A word about the morality of armed demonstration. Those of us against the genocide take satisfaction in arguing that the perpetrators and abettors have forfeited their humanity,” Rodriguez allegedly wrote. “I sympathize with this viewpoint and understand its value in soothing the psyche which cannot bear to accept the atrocities it witnesses, even mediated through the screen. But inhumanity has long since shown itself to be shockingly common, mundane, prosaically human. A perpetrator may then be a loving parent, a filial child, a generous and charitable friend, an amiable stranger, capable of moral strength at times when it suits him and sometimes even when it does not, and yet be a monster all the same. Humanity doesn’t exempt one from accountability.”
The post Accused DC Shooter Elias Rodriguez Idolized Man Who Set Himself on Fire Outside Israeli Embassy: Court Documents first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Demands Ceasefire Goes On as Long as Talks Continue

Trucks carrying aid line up near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt, February 1, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
i24 News – Hamas is demanding guarantees that a potential ceasefire with Israel will continue as long as negotiations for an end to the fighting go on, according to a report in the Saudi A-Sharq newspaper on Sunday.
As Israel’s delegation is set to arrive in Doha, the Saudi paper published a full list of the terror organization’s demands, citing an official close to Hamas.
Hamas is demanding 400 to 600 aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip per day, bringing food, medicine, tents, mobile homes, fuel, and construction materials to rebuild hospitals, bakeries, and water stations.
They are also demanding UN agencies be involved in the delivery of the aid, including UNRWA, as opposed to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) currently delivering aid.
The Rafah border crossing must also be reopened in both directions to allow more than 20,000 sick and injured people in need of urgent medical treatment in hospitals in Egypt and abroad, as well as bringing in humanitarian aid from the Egyptian side of the crossing.
Israel must also detail dates from which its forces will withdraw, with specific timelines, over the course of the 60-day ceasefire. The withdrawal must include all parts of Gaza, including the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt.
The Israeli and Hamas delegations will be in the same buildings, but in separate rooms, with Egyptian and Qatari officials liaising between the two sides.
A report in Palestinian news site Ma’an said that Hamas is demanding 1,000 Palestinian prisoners be freed in the hostage release deal. This includes about 100 who are serving life sentences.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier called Hamas’ changes and revisions to the most recent proposal “unacceptable,” despite sending the delegation to Qatar.
The post Hamas Demands Ceasefire Goes On as Long as Talks Continue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Sets Off to Meet Trump: ‘Opportunity to Expand Circle of Peace’

US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
i24 News – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed for a state visit on Sunday to the US, where he will meet with President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the 12-day operation against Iran and the scaled-up attempt to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu said that the visit is a “great opportunity” to “expand the circle of peace,” referring to indications that several countries in the region will sign normalization agreements with Israel, joining the Abraham Accords.
“In a conversation with President Trump, I will first thank him for his strong mobilization in favor of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “We have never had such a friend in the White House. And our joint mobilization brought a great victory against our common enemy – Iran. Iran has put our destruction on its flag.”
Despite years of fears over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program and air defenses, Netanyahu said “the IDF brought it to action, and so did the Mossad and all the security forces, and not only there, also against Lebanon. For years we feared what Hezbollah would do and if we could cope with it. And we could, and also against Hamas.”
“In a conversation with President Trump, I will first thank him for his strong mobilization in favor of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “We have never had such a friend in the White House. And our joint mobilization brought a great victory against our common enemy – Iran. Iran has put our destruction on its flag.”
Despite years of fears over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program and air defenses, Netanyahu said “the IDF brought it to action, and so did the Mossad and all the security forces, and not only there, also against Lebanon. For years we feared what Hezbollah would do and if we could cope with it. And we could, and also against Hamas.”
The post Netanyahu Sets Off to Meet Trump: ‘Opportunity to Expand Circle of Peace’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Pushes for Breakthrough in Ceasefire Talks Within 24 Hours

A Qatari flag is seen at a park near the Doha Corniche, in Doha, Qatar, Feb. 17, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Ibraheem al Omari.
i24 News – An Israeli delegation arrived in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Sunday evening to advance talks on a hostage deal. The delegation includes Coordinator for the Captives and the Missing Gal Hirsch, a senior Shin Bet official, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political advisor Ophir Falk, and other officials from the IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet security agency.
Israel has made it clear that some parts of Hamas’ response “are not acceptable to Israel.” But an Israeli source tells i24NEWS that “Israel thinks that Hamas’ response does allow for a deal to be concluded, which is why they decided to send a delegation.”
A source familiar with the details of the talks tells i24NEWS that the gaps between the sides are small. “A deal can be reached even within a day,” the source said. “They are not that significant, it all depends on how stubborn the parties will be and how much pressure there will be from the American president.”
In addition to talks about the ceasefire, Netanyahu is expected to ask US President Donald Trump during a visit to Washington, DC, for a “green light” to act against any Iranian activity related to rebuilding the Iranian nuclear program. The Israeli source told i24NEWS that “the goal is to receive a mandate similar to what is happening in Lebanon. That is, if there is identification of suspicious activity at the nuclear sites, if there is suspicion of removing uranium from the stockpiles – there will already be American approval to act against this activity.”
The Israeli goal is to establish an American mechanism that will work to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program. Israel is interested in increasing pressure on Tehran, the source said: “They want the sanctions of the snapback mechanism to be imposed on Iran because it is not cooperating with the IAEA.”
The post Israel Pushes for Breakthrough in Ceasefire Talks Within 24 Hours first appeared on Algemeiner.com.