U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Justice Department will seek the death penalty against a man accused of murdering two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., calling the attack an act of antisemitic violence that the administration will not tolerate.
Bondi announced the decision during a speech at the Israeli American Council National Summit in Florida, according to a report by the Miami Herald.
“Sarah and Yaron were shot, murdered because they were Jewish,” Bondi said, referring to victims Sarah Lynn Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky. “It was horrible. Horrible. We will not tolerate that in our country any longer,” she added, according to the newspaper.
The defendant, Elias Rodriguez, 31, is accused of fatally shooting Milgrim, 26, and Lischinsky, 30, on May 21 as they were leaving an American Jewish Committee event for young professionals and diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum. The two were Israeli embassy employees and were reportedly planning to become engaged.
Rodriguez faces federal charges including murder of a foreign official, first-degree murder and a hate crime resulting in death. The Justice Department previously said the charges carried a possible sentence of life in prison or the death penalty, leaving the final decision to the attorney general.
Bondi framed the case as part of a broader surge in antisemitic incidents in the United States. Citing recent hate crimes — including the arson of a historic synagogue in Mississippi earlier in the week — she said antisemitism had gone “unchecked” and vowed that the Justice Department under President Donald Trump would work to reverse the trend.
“Too many Jewish Americans have been forced to live in fear,” Bondi said, blaming the inaction of institutions and leaders who “look the other way,” according to the Herald.
As examples of the administration’s approach, Bondi pointed to Trump’s involvement in efforts to secure a Gaza truce and hostage deal, as well as million-dollar settlements reached by the Justice Department with public universities over anti-Israel protests tied to the war in Gaza that followed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
Bondi also recounted an incident from her time in Florida politics, saying she personally intervened to have a student removed from Florida State University after the student allegedly verbally assaulted a classmate wearing an IDF shirt. While not a violent crime, she described the incident as “a crime of great significance.”
The Justice Department announced in August that Rodriguez’s case could carry the death penalty but said at the time that a final determination would be made later. Bondi’s comments Friday appear to confirm that federal prosecutors will now pursue capital punishment.
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6 Responses
Executive branch is not supposed to be “seeking” anything. They’re supposed to be putting all data (that they have culles in an unopinionated fashion) in front of the jurist, and then walk away.
Very nice. Death penalty is good. Use it more often probably better for everyone if it was used. Not so hard to figure out.
Yiddish Mama – The Federal DA and prosecutors can and do legitimately decide to ‘seek’ more or less severe punishment, just like the State DA and prosecutors do. The police/FBI are supposed to obtain data in an objective fashion and put it in front of the jurist and then walk away. The Judicial Branch renders the actual decision.
@yiddish mama, that’s simply not true. The Attorney General, as the name suggests is prosecuting on behalf of the state. The prosecution seeks penalty, it’s ultimately up to judge and jury what sentence to impose.
Ironically/tragically BOTH of them were Halachic non-Jews (Jewish fathers), who were killed for being ‘Jewish’.
yiddish mama, that is ignorant garbage. Who do you think prosecutes crime? The executive branch. That’s what it’s for.
Shimon Katz, my understanding at the time was that the woman was an actual Jew, while the man was an Israeli Christian with a Jewish father.