On Wednesday night, two Israeli embassy employees were fatally shot as they left a Jewish museum in Washington, DC, causing outrage from US and Israeli officials.
According to the police, Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident, has been detained in connection with the shooting. The only suspect is him.
There is no place for “hatred” in the US, according to President Donald Trump, who criticized the shooting as “horrible.” Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, described the events in the US capital as “devastated.”
He claimed that the Israeli embassy’s two young employees have died as a result of “this hateful act of hatred, of anti-Semitism.”
Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security for the US, stated that the federal government would look into the attack and would prosecute its “depraved perpetrator.”
What we currently know is as follows:
What is known about the shooting, exactly?
On Wednesday night (01:00 GMT Thursday), officers responded to several calls about a shooting close to the Capital Jewish Museum.
At a press conference, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith stated that the suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire as they left an event at the museum in Northwest Washington, DC, near an FBI field office and the US attorney general’s office.
The victims were discovered unconscious and unable to breathe by first responders. Both were declared dead despite the best efforts to save them.
After the shooting, the suspect entered the museum and was taken into custody by security personnel there, according to police.
The suspect once identified the weapon in handcuffs, and he implied that he had committed the offence, according to Smith.
What are the victims’ details known to us?
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were given the names of the two by the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC.
Both staff members were present. Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the US, stated to reporters that the young employees were “about to be engaged.”
Leiter explained that the young man purchased a ring this week in order to propose to his girlfriend in Jerusalem the following week.
What is known about Elias Rodriguez, the suspect?
Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, Illinois, has been named as the suspect.
Heidi-Zhou Castro, a journalist close to the shooting’s location, claimed the suspect had not previously been on the authorities’ radar.
He wasn’t a well-known being, he said. Prior to this occurring, there was no heightened awareness, she claimed.
What motives does the suspect have, exactly?
Police have not yet established a motive.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023, Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, blamed a “toxic anti-Semitic incitement against Israel and Jews all over the world.”
Elias Rodriguez, the suspect, reportedly began chanting “Free, free Palestine” when he was taken into custody, according to Police Chief Smith.
Regardless of political ideology, Mohamad Elmasry, a professor of media studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, called the attacks “awful” and said they were rightly being condemned.
Elmasry told Al Jazeera, “You have the Trump administration, Israel, and some of their supporters coming out and saying that this is an act of anti-Semitism, and that may be the case, that it is just an act of naked anti-Jewish hatred,” and that is obviously unacceptable.
“But it’s also possible that Mr. Rodriguez targeted these embassy staffers with this act of vigilante violence against the State of Israel, or that he is venting his anger over the genocide in Gaza] or Israel’s apartheid policies. That is a crucial distinction because if that’s the purpose, it will require a different course of action.
What was the shooting’s response?
“These horrible DC killings, which are obviously motivated by antisemitism, must end right away”! Early on Thursday, President Trump made a tweet.
Hatred and radicalism are not acceptable in America. Condolences to the victims’ families. How disappointing that things like this can occur! God’s blessings to you all”!
Israeli authorities also vehemently denounced the incident, calling it a “despicable act of hatred.” After the shooting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared: “We are witnessing the terrible price of anti-Semitism and the wild incitement against the State of Israel.
According to Netanyahu, “I have instructed to improve security arrangements at Israeli missions around the world and to increase protection for state representatives.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the shooting as “a heinous act” in a post on X, adding that we must assume there was an anti-Semitic motivation at the time.
What will follow?
According to Police Chief Smith, law enforcement did not consider the community to be in danger right now.
FBI Director Kash Patel claimed that the shooting had been communicated to him and his team.
In the immediate, please pray for the victims and their families, he wrote on X while we are working with [the Metropolitan Police Department] to respond and learn more.
Mayor of Washington, DC, Muriel Bowser, stated to reporters that “violence or hate in our city” would not be tolerated.
In the coming days and weeks, we will stand together as a community to send a strong message that we will not tolerate anti-Semitism, according to Bowser.
Israel has launched a new military operation in Gaza to impose its complete control of the Strip, while the 11-week aid embargo is still in effect despite the country’s widespread condemnation of the shooting.
Source: Aljazeera
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