By Authorities arrested 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez on Wednesday evening at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., after he allegedly gunned down two Israeli embassy staffers—Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim—at close range. Eyewitnesses say Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine!” and “I did it for Gaza!” as he was taken into custody, making the attack appear not only premeditated but ideologically driven, according to The New York Times.
The murder was not a simple shooting. It was a brutal execution similar to those that happened in Israel during the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
In the charges against Rodriguez, we now know Sarah Milgrim tried to crawl away, heavily wounded.
He walked after her and shot her again ans again until he had to reload, and she was dead.
Monster. pic.twitter.com/1nncTNAUr7
— 𝗡𝗶𝗼𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗴 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) May 22, 2025
Rodriguez, a self-proclaimed anti-Israel activist, had a history of being part of leftwing activist groups and worked as an oral history researcher at The HistoryMakers, a “woke” nonprofit that collects the stories of prominent African Americans, reported The Washington Free Beacon. While the group presents itself as nonpartisan, its funding and programming tell another story.
Since 2024, it has received over $1 million from the Ford Foundation and has been backed by nearly $1 million from the MacArthur Foundation since 2003. The HistoryMakers also partners with PBS. Yet its digital archive skews sharply left, prominently featuring figures such as Al Sharpton and Anita Hill while excluding conservatives like Justice Clarence Thomas and economist Thomas Sowell. Even its entry on Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan sidesteps his history of antisemitic rhetoric, labeling him simply as a “controversial figure.”
Rodriguez’s radicalism extended far beyond the workplace. His alleged X account, “@kyotoleather,” posted a manifesto shortly before the shooting that endorsed “armed action” against those who “support genocide.” The account—active since October 2023—routinely shared violent content, including Hezbollah propaganda and posts calling for the destruction of Israel and the United States.
Rodriguez also has a documented history with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a far-left organization known for its anti-Israel agitation. In 2017, PSL’s newspaper Liberation quoted Rodriguez speaking at a Black Lives Matter protest in Seattle. Though the group now claims he hasn’t been involved in seven years, his ideological footprint is consistent with their militant rhetoric.
At the time of his arrest, Rodriguez was employed by the American Osteopathic Information Association (AOIA). In a joint statement with the American Osteopathic Association, the organizations expressed shock and condemned the killings, pledging full cooperation with law enforcement.
The History Makers did not respond to requests for comment from the Free Beacon.
Left-wing elected officials were also quiet about the shooting, according to The New York Post. When asked repeatedly to condemn the killings, Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, refused, telling reporters only, “I’m going to go for now.” Lischinsky and Milgrim—both in their twenties—had been attending an American Jewish Committee reception and were reportedly engaged to be married next week.
🚨 JUST IN: Ilhan Omar REFUSES to condemn the assassination of Israeli diplomats in DC last night
Omar is an ISLAMIC TERRORlST who needs to be deported back to Somalia.
NOT IN CONGRESS. pic.twitter.com/sstQadHDQg
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 22, 2025
Only after widespread criticism did Omar issue a vague post on Twitter, writing: “I am appalled by the deadly shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum… Violence should have no place in our country.” The tepid response drew fire across the aisle. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced Omar’s refusal to directly condemn the attack as “despicable.”
I am appalled by the deadly shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum last night.
Holding the victims, their families, and loved ones in my thoughts and prayers.
Violence should have no place in our country.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 22, 2025
The congresswoman’s daughter helped lead the pro-Palestine mobs at Columbia University last year.
Omar’s pattern of incendiary comments about Jews and Israel is well documented. She has compared the Jewish state to the Taliban, co-sponsored legislation branding Israel’s founding a “catastrophe,” and dismissed viral footage of anti-Israel protestors harassing a Jewish student at UCLA as merely “people moving around.” The Anti-Defamation League even accused her of “blood libel” last April over her divisive rhetoric.
Rodriguez remains in federal custody as investigators probe the full extent of his motives and associations. The victims’ families, meanwhile, are left mourning two young lives extinguished.
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