The FBI is exploring the possibility of a hate crime in the case of two Israeli Embassy employees who were killed near the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
During a news conference, Steven Jensen, who leads the FBI’s Washington field office, highlighted the organization’s collaborative efforts with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to investigate any potential links to terrorism or a bias-motivated crime, such as a hate crime.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, alongside law enforcement, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, and others, hosted the news conference.
Sarah Lynn Milgrim, left, and Yaron Lischinsky, were about to be engaged. (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
The event at the museum was for young Jewish professionals who work in foreign policy.
According to MPD Chief Pamela Smith, the suspect is 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, who was pacing outside the museum during the event, and yelled “Free, free Palestine” while he was in police custody. The suspect’s weapon has been recovered.
Katie Kalisher, who was at the museum Wednesday night, told “FOX & Friends” and encountered Rodriguez, said he came into the building after firing 10 or 15 gunshots outside. She said that during the encounter, Rodriguez said he “did this for Gaza.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi meets with officials as she visits the shooting site outside Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Two Israeli Embassy staff members, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were gunned down Wednesday evening after an event at the museum by a man shouting slogans in support of Palestine. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“I’m like, ‘so, do you like this museum?’ And he’s like, kind of playing dumb with me. He’s like, ‘oh, what kind of museum is this?’ And I’m like ‘it’s a Jewish museum. He asks ‘Do you think that is why they did it?’ in reference to gunshots we had heard. And I was like, ‘yeah maybe, I don’t know but I don’t think so, I hope not,’” Kalisher said. “And that is when he reaches into his bag and pulls out a kaffiyeh and says to me, ‘I did it. I did this for Gaza.’ And then he starts shouting ‘Free, Free Palestine!’ and the police show up and arrest him.”
Meanwhile, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has suggested that the attack was motivated by antisemitism.
“Last night’s act of terror has the full attention of your FBI,” he said in a post on X on Thursday morning. “Targeted acts of anti-Semitic violence are typically carried out by spineless, gutless cowards. And the penalties will be harsh as we tighten up this investigation and run down any additional leads. I should have additional updates for you shortly as I head back to FBI HQ.”
Jason Pack, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, told Fox News Digital that “all signs point to a hate-driven act.”
“Right now, the FBI, Diplomatic Security Service and D.C. Police are going through the suspect’s entire digital life—his phone, social media, and contacts—to figure out if this was a lone act or something bigger,” he said.
Elias Rodriguez, the 30-year-old suspect accused of shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers on Wednesday, May 21, in Washington D.C. (INSTAGRAM/@shinewithisrael)
“Whether it gets officially classified as domestic terrorism is up to prosecutors, but the motive and the setting—a Jewish museum, Israeli diplomats—it’s hard to ignore the larger message behind it,” he said.
Pack said that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is taking the lead in the investigation specifically because the killings were an attack on a cultural institution in the middle of Washington, D.C., and that federal agencies are already increasing security at Jewish sites across the country.
Pack also said that though it appears the suspect acted alone, the FBI will dig its heels in to determine whether anyone else knew of the plan, or whether he was encouraged to carry out an attack by anyone else.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI on Thursday morning.
Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg and Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
