A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted on hate crime expenses the person accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outdoors a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, newly faces two counts of hate crime leading to loss of life and two assault counts. It provides to an unique batch of expenses unveiled in Might.
Federal prosecutors additionally moved nearer to pursuing the loss of life penalty by together with a discover of particular findings outlining aggravating components that would make Rodriguez eligible for execution, if convicted.
Rodriguez stands accused of gunning down a younger couple who labored for the Israeli Embassy — Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26 — on Might 21 simply outdoors D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum as they have been leaving an occasion.
Shortly after the taking pictures, Rodriguez allegedly advised occasion attendees “I did it for Palestine” and yelled at them, “shame on you.”
The indictment states Rodriguez someday prior authored a doc saying he takes “satisfaction” in arguing the “perpetrators and abettors have forfeited their humanity.” He allegedly scheduled it to publish on social media within the hours after the taking pictures.
“A perpetrator may then be a loving parent, a filial child, a generous and charitable friend, an amiable stranger…, and yet be a monster all the same. Humanity doesn’t exempt one from accountability,” Rodriguez wrote, based on the indictment.
The charging paperwork additionally element a number of social media posts Rodriguez made within the months main as much as the incident. It consists of one in Might 2024, when Rodriguez allegedly despatched a direct message that mentioned “please please please god please vaporize each Israeli 18 and above.”
The Hill has reached out to Rodriguez’s legal professional for remark.
He has not but entered a plea however is because of make his subsequent courtroom look on Friday.
The brand new hate crime and assault expenses add to a legal grievance that prosecutors unveiled in Might. The indictment additionally consists of these unique expenses of homicide of international officers, two counts of first-degree homicide and two firearms expenses.
