The killing of two Israeli Embassy employees near the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. is being investigated as a possible hate crime, according to the FBI.
Steven Jensen, the assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, said in a news conference that the federal law enforcement entity is working alongside the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to “look into ties to potential terrorism or motivation based on a bias-based crime or a hate crime.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser hosted the news conference alongside law enforcement, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, and others.
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She echoed Jensen’s comments, saying that “the FBI’s role, of course, as always when there is any possibility of a terrorist act, or acts motivated by hate or other bias, the FBI will be conducting those investigations.
“We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism,” she said during the news conference. “We will not tolerate antisemitism.”
The victims were identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a couple who both worked at the embassy. They were shot around 9:08 p.m. Wednesday.
Lischinsky was born in Israel and grew up in Germany. His father is Jewish and his mother is Christian.
Milgrim was an American employee of the embassy.
Leiter said the two victims were dating and on the verge of engagement, and that Lischinsky had “purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem.”
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The event at the museum was for young Jewish professionals who work in foreign policy.
According to MPD Chief Pamela Smith, the suspect is 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, who was pacing outside the museum during the event, and yelled “Free, free Palestine” while he was in police custody. The suspect’s weapon has been recovered.
Katie Kalisher, who was at the museum Wednesday night, told “FOX & Friends” and encountered Rodriguez, said he came into the building after firing 10 or 15 gunshots outside. She said that during the encounter, Rodriguez said he “did this for Gaza.”
“I’m like, ‘so, do you like this museum?’ And he’s like, kind of playing dumb with me. He’s like, ‘oh, what kind of museum is this?’ And I’m like ‘it’s a Jewish museum. He asks ‘Do you think that is why they did it?’ in reference to gunshots we had heard. And I was like, ‘yeah maybe, I don’t know but I don’t think so, I hope not,’” Kalisher said. “And that is when he reaches into his bag and pulls out a kaffiyeh and says to me, ‘I did it. I did this for Gaza.’ And then he starts shouting ‘Free, Free Palestine!’ and the police show up and arrest him.”
Meanwhile, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has suggested that the attack was motivated by antisemitism.
“Last night’s act of terror has the full attention of your FBI,” he said in a post on X on Thursday morning. “Targeted acts of anti-Semitic violence are typically carried out by spineless, gutless cowards. And the penalties will be harsh as we tighten up this investigation and run down any additional leads. I should have additional updates for you shortly as I head back to FBI HQ.”
Jason Pack, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, told Fox News Digital that “all signs point to a hate-driven act.”
“Right now, the FBI, Diplomatic Security Service and D.C. Police are going through the suspect’s entire digital life—his phone, social media, and contacts—to figure out if this was a lone act or something bigger,” he said.
“Whether it gets officially classified as domestic terrorism is up to prosecutors, but the motive and the setting—a Jewish museum, Israeli diplomats—it’s hard to ignore the larger message behind it,” he said.
Pack said that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is taking the lead in the investigation specifically because the killings were an attack on a cultural institution in the middle of Washington, D.C., and that federal agencies are already increasing security at Jewish sites across the country.
Pack also said that though it appears the suspect acted alone, the FBI will dig its heels in to determine whether anyone else knew of the plan, or whether he was encouraged to carry out an attack by anyone else.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI on Thursday morning.
Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg and Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
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