A Chicago man arrested for the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in the US capital Washington could potentially face the death penalty if convicted of murder and hate crime charges, officials said Thursday.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi will ultimately decide whether to seek the death penalty for Elias Rodriguez, the suspect in the May 21 attack, federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro told reporters.
Rodriguez, 31, was arrested immediately after the shooting of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and his fiancee, Sarah Milgrim, 26, outside the Capital Jewish Museum.
Pirro said that in addition to two counts of first-degree murder, a grand jury has charged Rodriguez with hate crimes "because of his bias against the people of Israel."
"We have a problem with anti-Semitism in this country," Pirro said. "It's a problem and we're not going to tolerate it."
Rodriguez allegedly shouted "Free Palestine" as he was taken away by police after the shooting and told officers "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza."
FBI agent Reid Davis said Rodriguez is believed to have acted alone.
"Based on his writings and communications, we believe he was a lone wolf actor motivated by anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian ideology with the goal of conducting a mass shooting to call attention to his political agenda," Davis said.
Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, was a researcher at the Israeli embassy, while Milgrim, an American, worked for its public diplomacy department. The couple were engaged to be married.
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