Spanish
Washington.- The United States Justice Department on Thursday charged the man arrested for the murder on Wednesday of a couple who worked at the Israeli Embassy in Washington with first-degree murder and homicide against foreign officials.
The accusation, filed before the District Court for the District of Columbia, emphasizes that the accused, identified as Elías Rodríguez, admitted that he did it "for Palestine" and "for Gaza", and that when the agents took him from the Jewish Museum, where the shooting took place, he shouted "Free Palestine!".
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According to the records provided by American Airlines, he traveled from Chicago to Washington on May 20 and declared that he was carrying a firearm in the checked baggage.
Christina Hagenbaugh, FBI special agent, details in the indictment that the attack began around 9:08 p.m. local time (01:08 GMT Thursday) and that one of the victims, Yaron Lischinsky, was declared dead at 9:14 p.m. local time (01:14 GMT).
His partner, Sarah Milgrim, was declared dead at 21:35 (01:35 GMT). Rodríguez confessed to the officers that he had committed the attack.
The report indicates that the security cameras show the accused firing several times at the victims. One of them fell to the ground and the aggressor shot her again. While she was trying to escape by crawling, he followed her and shot her again.
In his statement to law enforcement, Rodriguez expressed his admiration for a man who self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington on February 25, 2024, as a protest aimed at drawing attention to Israel's war in Gaza.
The young man considered his action to be brave and called him a "martyr".
His attack took place at an event of the American Jewish Committee at the Jewish Museum in the American capital. Rodríguez had bought a ticket for it about three hours before it took place.
Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, pointed out in an interview on Fox News that the two deceased were "a perfect couple." "We will follow the efforts to prosecute the suspect very closely," he concluded.
