(JNS) The United States will pursue the death penalty against the suspect in last May’s killing of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington, DC, said US Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaking at the Israeli-American Council National Summit in Hollywood, Fla. on Jan. 16.
“We will not tolerate that in our country any longer. We are prosecuting the monster, and we will seek the death penalty,” Bondi told a packed ballroom.
On May 21, 2025, Elias Rodriguez, 31, from Chicago, purchased a ticket to the “Young Diplomats Reception” sponsored by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Outside the museum, Rodriguez shot Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, employees of the Israeli embassy, who attended the reception. Lischinsky was an Israeli citizen who was in the US on official business. Milgrim was a US citizen. They were about to be engaged to be married.
Rodriguez wounded two others, referred to in the indictment only as C.S. and A.T.
Rodriguez allegedly told officers at the scene, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza” and chanted, “Free Palestine” after being detained by security.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia, on May 20, 2025, the day he flew to Washington, DC, from Chicago with a 9mm handgun packed in his luggage, he authored a manifesto arguing that perpetrators of “the genocide” have “forfeited their humanity.”
Israel has been falsely accused of committing genocide against Gazans during the war that followed the invasion of southern Israel by the terror group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in the murder of some 1,200 men, women and children.
“The sad truth is, for way too long, antisemitism has been allowed to grow unchecked in this country. Too many institutions have abdicated their moral responsibility to speak up. Too many so-called leaders have stayed quiet. Actions have consequences and inaction has consequences, too,” Bondi said.
Freedom of access
She said that the Trump administration is dedicated to rooting out antisemitism wherever it is found.
“We’ve sued violent protesters under the FACE act for intimidating Jewish Americans worshipping at synagogues. This is the first time since the passage of the FACE act in 1994 that it has been used to protect a house of worship,” Bondi said.
The FACE Act (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act) is a US federal law making it a crime to use force, threats or physical obstruction to block people from exercising religious freedom at places of worship, among other institutions.
“Too many synagogues have been forced to have extra security” and the Department of Justice is “dedicated to reversing this unacceptable trend,” Bondi said.
Referring to the Jan. 10 arson attack on Beth Israel Congregation and the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Miss., she noted that along with first-degree arson the suspect had been charged with a hate-crime.
She praised her assistant attorney general, Harmeet Dhillon, who runs the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and US President Donald Trump for negotiating challenging settlements with universities that have allowed antisemitism to fester.
Those settlements secured $200 million from Columbia University for violating the civil rights of Jewish students and employees, $75 million from Northwestern University for antisemitic conduct, and $60 million from Cornell University, along with measures to halt antisemitism, she reported.
Bondi also said that a full investigation has been launched into the University of California system for systemic antisemitism.
“We’ve seen Jewish students harassed just for going to class. We’ve seen businesses boycotted and targeted. We will not allow acts of antisemitism to go unpunished in this country under the leadership of Donald Trump,” she said.
Bondi recounted an incident at Florida State University where a female student verbally attacked and harassed a male student for wearing an IDF shirt. After being informed by the university president, Bondi contacted Florida’s attorney general and law enforcement, saw the case proceed through the system, and the student responsible expelled.
“Little things are the big things, and that sends a strong message that you can’t behave that way anymore in our country. You can’t bully other students simply because they’re Jewish and you think you’re better than they are. It’s not going to happen under Donald Trump’s presidency,” Bondi said.
She concluded by praising Trump’s efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, recounting a story of meeting brothers Yair and Amos Horn. Yair had been taken captive along with a third brother, Eitan, from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023.
When Yair was released, Eitan was held back by Hamas and remained in captivity. Bondi kept a picture on her desk of the sad moment when one was released but the other not.
Two weeks ago, she heard from Yair, saying he wanted to exchange the sad picture with a happy one of the three brothers united, which she showed to the audience.
She applauded Trump, United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who was recently named to the Gaza Board of Peace, for their work on behalf of the hostages.
“We will continue to fight for Israel,” Bondi concluded.
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