Suspect in murder of Israeli Embassy couple linked to organization that called Oct. 7 attack 'legitimate'
The man who allegedly killed two Israeli Embassy employees outside the Capital Jewish Museum last Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., was linked to the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which praised the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack in the hours after it happened.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, murder of foreign officials, and several firearm-related counts. The Department of Justice is weighing whether it will invoke the death penalty in the case. Rodriguez flew from Chicago, Illinois, where he lives, to allegedly carry out the shooting.
The shooting happened during an American Jewish Committee event the night of May 21, which brought Jewish professionals and members of the diplomatic community together.
Yaron Lischinsky, 31, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, both died after the shooting. Lischinsky and Milgrim were engaged. Both individuals were employed by the Israeli Embassy.
Following the shooting, the Party for Socialism and Liberation said in a post on X that Rodriguez had a "brief" affiliation with the association that ended in 2017.
"We reject any attempt to associate the PSL with the DC shooting. Elias Rodriguez is not a member of the PSL. He had a brief association with one branch of the PSL that ended in 2017. We know of no contact with him in over 7 years," the group said. "We have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it."
The group believes "the only solution to the deepening crisis of capitalism is the socialist transformation of society."
"Driven by an insatiable appetite for ever greater profits regardless of social cost, capitalism is on a collision course with the people of the world and the planet itself. Imperialist war; deepening unemployment and poverty; deteriorating health care, housing and education; racism; discrimination and violence based on gender and sexual orientation; environmental destruction—all are inevitable products of the capitalist system itself," its website states.
In an article in the Party for Socialism and Liberation's official newspaper that has since been deleted, Elias Rodriguez was identified as a member of the organization when talking about Amazon's Seattle, Washington, presence.
"The wealth that Amazon has brought to Seattle has not been shared with its Black residents," Rodriguez said. "[Amazon's] whitening of Seattle is structurally racist and a direct danger to all workers who live in that city. So do we in Chicago and all across the country want a nation of cities dominated and occupied by massive corporations where only the rich and white can live and the vast majority of us must live on edges of the city and society living in deeper and deeper poverty?"
In the hours after the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel, the group posted to X, saying that resistance "is not a crime!"
"Resistance to apartheid and fascist-type oppression is not a crime! It is the inevitable outcome for all people who demand self-determination rather than living with the boot-heel of the oppressors on their necks," the group said.
PSL STATEMENT: Resistance to apartheid and fascist-type oppression is not a crime! It is the inevitable outcome for all people who demand self-determination rather than living with the boot-heel of the oppressors on their necks.READ FULL STATEMENT HERE: https://t.co/Ju3v7UTPLL pic.twitter.com/iKlJLQAcej
The group went on to say that the Oct. 7, 2023 attack "is a morally and legally legitimate response to occupation."
In a separate X post on Oct. 8, 2023, the group said, "Palestinian resistance is not terrorism! It is a basic fact of history that any people subjected to occupation will resist that occupation."
🇵🇸Palestinian resistance is not terrorism! It is a basic fact of history that any people subjected to occupation will resist that occupation.🧵What led to yesterday's courageous counter-offensive?
According to the Anti-Defamation League, speakers at rallies held by the Party for Socialism and Liberation after Oct. 7, 2023 praised Hamas and the attack.
"We saw last weekend, the only recourse the Palestinians have left, which is armed resistance, and again, that is their right under international law," one speaker said at an Oct. 14, 2023 protest in Tampa, Florida.
At an Oct. 8, 2023 protest in Anaheim, California, one person celebrated this "moment where Hamas is taking control, they're resisting."
A spokesperson for StandWithUs, an Israel education organization, told Fox News Digital that the Party for Socialism and Liberation should be investigated.
"PSL celebrated the atrocities on October 7 as 'courageous' and 'bold.' They held a rally where a speaker mocked the Nova Festival massacre. Despite their efforts to distance themselves from the murder of Yaron and Sarah, they should be thoroughly investigated," the group said.
Former homicide detective and Fox News contributor Ted Williams told Fox News Digital he thinks the incident is a "wake-up call" for law enforcement.
"I think law enforcement clearly needs to be far, far more involved in rooting out all these antisemitic groups, sort of like the one that Rodriguez is alleged to have been a part or involved with," Williams said. "The problem is there's not a lot of law enforcement officers to go around, unfortunately, to take on these assignments to infiltrate these groups and to try to weed out individuals like Rodriguez."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Party for Socialism and Liberation for comment.
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