by WorldTribune Staff, May 22, 2025 Real World News

The suspect in the murders of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, DC on Wednesday has been allegedly identified an active member of the Party for Socialism & Liberation.

Elias Rodriguez, the 30-year-old suspect accused of shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers on Wednesday.

Elias Rodriguez, age 30 from Chicago, is the suspected gunmen in the killing of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. The couple, who were shot after leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, had plans to get engaged in Jerusalem next week.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation wrote X on Thursday: “We reject any attempt to associate the PSL with the DC shooting. Elias Rodriguez is not a member of the PSL. He had a brief association with one branch of the PSL that ended in 2017. We know of no contact with him in over 7 years. We have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it.”

A 2017 article in Liberation News – the newspaper of the Party for Socialism and Liberation – mentioned that Rodriguez was among the protesters who “gathered outside Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house to demand justice for Laquan McDonald and an end to the ethnic cleansing of Chicago vis-à-vis gentrification on Oct. 20, [2017] the anniversary of McDonald’s murder by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke.”

“The event, organized by the People’s Congress of Resistance, ANSWER Chicago and Black Lives Matter Women of Faith, gathered in front of Mayor Emanuel’s Ravenswood home in response to the $2.25 billion bid for an Amazon headquarters in the city of Chicago,” the article continued.

“Elias Rodriguez from the Party for Socialism and Liberation argued that the murder of Laquan McDonald and the Chicago bid for an Amazon headquarters are not two separate issues, but rather they are both connected,” the article read.

” ‘The wealth that Amazon has brought to Seattle has not been shared with its Black residents,’ Rodriguez said. ‘[Amazon’s] whitening of Seattle is structurally racist and a direct danger to all workers who live in that city. So do we in Chicago and all across the country want a nation of cities dominated and occupied by massive corporations where only the rich and White can live and the vast majority of us must live on edges of the city and society living in deeper and deeper poverty? I don’t think so,’ ” the article quoted Rodriguez as saying.

Law enforcement officials described the attack as “targeted” and said the suspect shouted “Free Palestine” as he was being detained. The shooting was being investigated as a hate crime, a law enforcement source said.

President Donald Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social: “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!”

🧵NEW: Elias Rodriguez, the 30 year old suspect in the shooting tonight in DC of 2 staff members of the Israeli Embassy is allegedly an active member of the Party for Socialism & Liberation who marched with BLM, the People’s Congress of Resistance & ANSWER Chicago https://t.co/GC176f5fuA pic.twitter.com/7v9uqmuAMO

— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) May 22, 2025

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  Party for Socialism and Liberation downplays affiliation with shooter of Israeli embassy staffers, WorldTribune.com