Suspect in fatal shooting of 2 Israeli embassy staff charged with murder

WASHINGTON -- The US Department of Justice on Thursday filed criminal charges against the suspect in the case involving the fatal shooting of two staff members of the Israeli embassy in the United States the prior night.

The charges include the murder of foreign officials.

Prosecutors stated that additional charges may be filed as authorities continue investigating the incident as a hate crime and terrorism targeting the Jewish community.

Two staff members of the Israeli embassy were shot and killed near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC on Wednesday night. US police said that the suspect is 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois.

"These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA," US President Donald Trump wrote in a post on social media platform Truth Social.

Danny Danon, Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, said that harming diplomats is crossing a red line.

Since the outbreak of a new round of the Israel-Palestine conflict on Oct 7, 2023, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has continued to worsen. Against this backdrop, US Middle East policy has, to some extent, intensified domestic dissatisfaction with Israel.