Two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed after a man opened fire at close range outside the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, May 21.
The two victims, identified by the Israeli Foreign Ministry as 26-year-old Sarah Milgrim of Kansas and 28-year-old German-Israeli Yaron Lischinsky, were attending an event at the museum for Jewish diplomatic professionals under the age of 45, organized by the pro-Israel advocacy group American Jewish Committee. Milgrim worked in the Israeli Embassy Department of Public Diplomacy, according to her LinkedIn profile, and Lischinsky was a research assistant.
In a statement published this morning, Capital Jewish Museum Executive Director Beatrice Gurwitz and the museum’s board of directors said they were “heartbroken” by the murders. The museum remained closed today, Thursday.
“We are working to re-open the museum 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,” the statement said.
The museum, which opened in 2023 and holds exhibitions exploring Jewish history in the capital city, had recently expressed concerns over safety and security related to its current exhibition, LGBTQJews in the Federal City. It was one of 11 nonprofits in the area to receive a government grant to offset security costs. The museum classified the shooting as an act of “horrifying antisemitic violence.”
Former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, interim United States attorney, will lead the prosecution.
The couple was reportedly departing the museum in a group when the shooter pulled out a handgun. Video captured a man, identified by authorities as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, entering a building that appears to be the museum after allegedly shooting the couple and shouting “Free Palestine,” as he was arrested by Metropolitan Police.
The suspected shooter’s utterance of a pro-Palestine slogan was rapidly referenced online to support claims that the Palestinian solidarity movement is inherently violent, despite evidence to the contrary. A May 2024 analysis by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data showed that student demonstrations for Palestine, for instance, were overwhelmingly peaceful. Israel has killed upward of 50,000 Palestinians since October 7.
Early this morning, the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dan Bongino, said that the suspect was being questioned and classified the murders as an act of “targeted violence.” It is unclear if Rodriguez intended to shoot Milgrim or Lischinsky specifically.
Hyperallergic has contacted the Metropolitan Police, the Capital Jewish Museum, and the American Jewish Committee for comment.
The shooting has been widely condemned by world figures and government officials across party lines. Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani and Zeteo CEO Medhi Hassan, both vocal critics of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, took to X to denounce the killings. Moms Demand Action, an organization working to address gun violence in the United States, took to Instagram to say that “easy access to guns can make hate especially deadly.” “We all deserve to live freely and safely without the threat of gun violence,” the group said.
Lischinsky, according to a statement from Israel’s ambassador to Germany, was a Christian Zionist who served in the Israeli military. The researcher also had family in Israel, according to the American Jewish Committee.
Right-wing media outlets were quick to claim that Rodriguez was affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, an organization critical of Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The party denied any links to Rodriguez beyond a “brief association” in 2017 in an X statement.
+ There are no comments
Add yours