A Chicago man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers in a shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington in May has been charged with new terrorism-related counts, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Elias Rodriguez had been charged with hate crime and other federal counts, which a new superseding indictment replaced with 13 charges, the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington said.
Rodriguez, 31, is still charged with two counts of hate crime resulting in death and the other previous counts, but the new indictment adds four that allege acts of terrorism while armed, the office said.
“These additional terrorism-related charges carry a mandatory life sentence under D.C. Code, while also reflecting the reality that this act was in fact an act of terror,” Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement.
Rodriguez is accused of opening fire on Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, with a semi-automatic handgun around 9 p.m., firing around 20 shots, officials said.
Rodriguez said, “Free Palestine,” and later entered the museum and said, “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.
He recorded the fatal shootings on a body-worn camera, prosecutors have said in court filings.
Rodriguez pleaded not guilty under the previous indictment. Online federal court records did not appear to show a new plea or appearance in connection with the superseding indictment Wednesday.
A federal public defender listed as representing Rodriguez did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the new indictment Wednesday evening.
Lischinsky and Milgrim both worked for the Israeli Embassy in Washington and were leaving a "Young Diplomats Reception" at the museum when Rodriguez shot them, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Milgrim, from Overland Park, Kansas, were soon to be engaged when they were killed, officials have said.
Lischinsky had bought an engagement ring and planned to propose to Milgrim a week later in Jerusalem, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said at the time.
Rodriguez could face the death penalty or life in prison if he is convicted.
Federal prosecutors have not yet filed a notice of whether they will seek the death penalty with the court, records show.
The additional charges in the new indictment are four counts of acts of terrorism while armed, which deal with two existing counts of first-degree murder and two existing counts of assault with intent to kill, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Rodriguez is also charged with federal counts of murder of a foreign official, two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of hate crime resulting in death, two counts of causing death through use of a firearm and two counts of assault with intent to kill.
