DOJ set to seek hate crime charges in killing of Israeli Embassy staffers: Sources

(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department is set to seek hate crime charges and the death penalty against the alleged gunman who fatally shot two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News Wednesday.

Prosecutors are poised to request that a grand jury indict Elias Rodriguez, as soon as this week, sources said.

He has remained in custody since the fatal shooting of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim outside the Capitol Jewish Museum on May 21.

CNN first reported news of the expected charges.

Rodriguez was charged via criminal complaint with first-degree murder, murdering foreign officials and using a firearm to commit murder and a crime of violence, a day after the shooting. Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro emphasized at the time that the charges were only initial in nature.

“A young couple at the beginning of their life’s journey, about to be engaged in another country, had their bodies removed in the cold of the night in a foreign city in a body bag. We are not going to tolerate that anymore,” Pirro said during a press briefing on May 22. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated, especially in the nation’s capital.”

Early last month, prosecutors in Rodriguez’s case sought an extension for time to return an indictment against him, noting the complex and unusual nature of the charges he was facing.

Rodriguez was seen in videos shouting “Free, Free Palestine!” inside the museum just minutes after he allegedly shot Lischinsky and Milgrim dozens of times, and later allegedly told police upon his arrest, “I did it for Palestine.”

But to secure an indictment on the new charge that Rodriguez’s acts amounted to a hate crime, prosecutors would need to have evidence that his alleged actions were motivated by antisemitism and not just hatred toward Israel and the war in Gaza.

Rodriguez has not yet entered a plea in his case. A public defender representing him did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

The complaint alleges that Rodriguez shot the couple in the back and then fired again at Milgrim as she tried to crawl away.

Lischinsky, 30, was a researcher in the political department of the Israeli Embassy, while Milgrim, 26, organized U.S. missions to Israel.