The man accused of murdering two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington, DC, has a background connected to a militant leftist group that has championed Black Lives Matter protests and strongly supports the Palestinian cause.
Authorities say Elias Rodriguez, 31, admitted to opening fire on the victims outside the Capital Jewish Museum late Wednesday. Witnesses reported that he shouted, “Free, free Palestine,” during the deadly attack.
As law enforcement seeks to understand what led to the antisemitic act of violence, more information has surfaced about Rodriguez’s past activism and ideological ties.
Rodriguez previously had involvement with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), an extreme left-wing organization that frequently shares messages opposing Israel on its social media channels.
Just hours prior to the shooting in the nation’s capital, the group posted, “End the genocide. Israel out of Gaza now,” echoing the kinds of sentiments Rodriguez was allegedly voicing.
Following the incident, PSL acknowledged Rodriguez’s prior connection to the group, while also attempting to distance itself from his actions.
“We reject any attempt to associate the PSL with the DC shooting. Elias Rodriguez is not a member of the PSL,” the group stated in a message posted to X early Thursday morning.
“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.”
In a previously available, now-removed article on PSL’s Liberation News platform, Rodriguez was featured as a participant in a 2017 demonstration organized by Black Lives Matter in front of then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home. The rally marked the anniversary of the police killing of Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old African American.
At that protest, Rodriguez lashed out at Amazon, blaming the corporation for exacerbating inequality and contributing to racial gentrification in urban centers.
“[Amazon’s] whitening of Seattle is structurally racist and a direct danger to all workers who live in that city,” he was quoted as saying.
“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 the edges of the city and society living in deeper and deeper poverty?”
His professional history, according to LinkedIn, includes a role as an oral history researcher at The HistoryMakers, an organization dedicated to preserving African American narratives.
The nonprofit’s website once listed a biography for Rodriguez, since taken down, stating that he earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
“Prior to joining The HistoryMakers in 2023, he worked as a content writer for commercial and noncommercial firms in the technology space, both national and regionally based,” the page read.
“He enjoys reading and writing fiction, live music, film, and exploring new places.”
Rodriguez was in custody Thursday morning, undergoing interrogation by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department as well as the FBI, while investigators attempted to piece together a clearer profile of his background and motivations.
Eyewitnesses said Rodriguez appeared agitated as he walked back and forth outside the museum shortly before the shots were fired.
Bystanders, not realizing the danger, reportedly offered him water, thinking he was in distress and needed assistance.
According to both witnesses and law enforcement officials, when police confronted him, Rodriguez pulled out a red keffiyeh and began shouting, “Free Palestine,” several times.
Footage captured after the shooting shows Rodriguez — dressed in a suit jacket and slacks — being escorted away in handcuffs.
{Matzav.com}