Chicago-based activist Elias Rodriguez suspect in shooting of Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC
Washington DC: Washington Police has identified 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago as the suspect in the shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, where two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed at close range on Wednesday, according to media reports.
Authorities confirmed that Rodriguez had no prior contact with law enforcement.
The victims, Yaron and Sarah, were attending an event at the Jewish museum when they were shot.
The incident occurred near 3rd and F Streets NW, an area that houses the museum as well as the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the US Attorney’s office.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said Yaron and Sarah were in a relationship and were soon to be engaged.
Rodriguez has been associated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and was active in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, according to reports.
In 2017, he joined a protest outside then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home, organised by groups including the People’s Congress of Resistance, ANSWER Chicago, and Black Lives Matter Women of Faith.
The demonstration marked the anniversary of the killing of Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager who was shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, on October 20, 2014 — a case that became a flashpoint in the national conversation on police brutality.
During the protest, Rodriguez reportedly argued that the city’s pursuit of an Amazon headquarters and the police shooting of McDonald were linked, pointing to deeper issues of systemic racism and economic inequality.
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