3 days ago
Inside Israeli Embassy shooter Elias Rodriguez's fan club
Elias Rodriguez is accused of brutally murdering two Israeli embassy staffers — but a sick fan club cheering on his action is growing around him.
A twisted online community has exploded supporting the suspected terrorist: Writing him letters in jail, petitioning for his release, and celebrating his crime as part of the so-called 'global intifada.'
The Post infiltrated several popular Telegram channels which circulate op-eds, petitions and even stickers in support of the accused murderer.
8 Elias Rodriguez was arrested for allegedly shooting Yaron Lichinsky and Sarah Pilgrim in May.
Katie Kalisher via Storyful
Rodriguez, 31, is charged with shooting Yaron Lichinsky, 28, and Sarah Pilgrim, 26, late on May 21 as they were leaving a Young Diplomats Reception held at the Capital Jewish Museum in DC.
The victims, who were a couple, both worked at the Israeli Embassy. Chicago native Rodriguez is now charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is being held in jail as prosecutors determine a full list of charges against him.
Depraved Rodriguez, who had ties to radical left-wing groups, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack that night while chanting 'Free Palestine' which has since made him the subject of praise online.
A video of Rodriguez's arrest posted to Resistance News Network, a pro-Palestinian Telegram channel with more than 165,000 followers, received tremendous positive attention. 404 users reacted with a heart-on-fire emoji, and 192 more with a salute emoji.
8 A message posted to the Tariq el-Tahrir Youth and Student Network Telegram channel encouraged members to post stickers of Rodriguez 'everywhere.'
Telegram
Individuals on the Tariq el-Tahrir Youth and Student Network Telegram channel were encouraged to print out stickers of Rodriguez and to 'distribute them everywhere! Long live the armed anti-imperialist resistance!'
Especially disturbing strings of comments about Rodriguez and racist hate directed towards Lichinsky and Pilgrim were left by members of GAZA NOW IN ENGLISH, a Telegram channel with more than 200,000 members.
An image of Rodriguez posted to the channel the day after the attack praised him for, 'in a moment of courage, [deciding] to make his voice heard and [confronting] the murderers with boldness,' despite both of his victims being entirely innocent diplomats.
8 Stickers of Elias Rodriguez were circulated on Telegram groups to be downloaded by users.
8 Reactions on Telegram to Lichinsky and Pilgrim's murder were viciously antisemitic.
Telegram
'Great man even though he's a Christian/atheist worm,' one channel member responded. Another wrote, 'Blessed… two zionists off to their promised land in HELL!!!'
'Go go go rodriguesz [sic], another shooter are welcomed,' a third user wrote. Another said, 'This should happen all over the world in each and every country.'
Responses to a photo of the two victims were equally depraved. Heart emojis, Palestinian flags, poop emojis, and inverted red triangles, used by Hamas in military footage to indicate an Israeli target before an attack, littered the comment section.
'Welcome to hell,' someone emboldened by their anonymity wrote. Another chimed in, 'Those things are not 'people' they are demons.'
'Thank you… let all iarelist [sic] and zionist be killed,' a commenter added. 'Killing jews ia [sic] service to humanity. Kill more of these terrorist children killers,' someone wrote.
8 Many users on the GAZA NOW IN ENGLISH Telegram channel celebrated the murders.
Telegram
Multiple Telegram channels, including the United Liberation Front for Palestine and Resistance News Network, circulated a petition to free Rodriguez, written by the anonymous Free Elias Rodriguez Organizing Committee.
'Elias Rodriguez's targeted attack on two israeli [sic] diplomatic staff on May 21, 2025 was a legitimate act of resistance against the zionist state,' it reads, condoning murder on US territory for political ends.
8 Rodriguez's image was photoshopped onto a Palestinian flag, superimposed with a hammer and sickle.
Telegram
They compare Rodriguez to alleged United Healthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione, 'whose alleged actions,' the petition argues, 'also helped to balance the scales of justice.'
'We are saying that such counter-violence is legitimate. It is justice. Elias Rodriguez's act was fully justified, at that place where legal and moral duties meet.'
8 Several Telegram groups circulated a petition to free Elias Rodriguez from prison.
Telegram
Jewish groups have warned that many channels like these are actually seeded and fuelled by Hamas to spread its anti-Israel propaganda.
'The Telegram app has a channel where anyone can find English translations of propaganda from groups like Hamas. It's not necessarily like there's a menu of options from Hamas, it's not that official. They just create online spaces where people can access and circulate their propaganda.
'It serves Hamas by portraying them as a legitimate resistance instead of the bloodthirsty terrorists that they are. It has dangerous consequences and makes people feel like they are not alone in their resistance, which can make them more damaging,' Oren Segal, the Anti-Defamation League's SVP for Counter-Extremism and Intelligence, recently told The Post.
8 A 'zine' version of Khaled Barakat's op-ed was circulated for download on several channels.
Telegram
Telegram groups, including Resistance News Network, the Tariq el-Tahrir Youth and Student Network, and United Liberation Front for Palestine, which were identified to The Post by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies as especially extreme channels, have also shared an especially inflammatory op-ed celebrating Rodriguez.
The piece is written by Khaled Barakat, an individual identified by the US Department of Treasury as a Specially Designated National for his association with the designated terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Published originally in Arabic in a Lebanese newspaper, the piece has been converted into a 'zine' form that Telegram users are circulating in a printable PDF form.
Barakat's message reads: 'Rodriguez's operation represents a cry in the face of the American system, and a message that resistance is … an identity, and an ethical and political stance that allows for no compromise.'
