10 hours ago
6
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
The suspect, Elias Rodriguez, was charged with gunning down two Israeli Embassy workers outside a Jewish museum in Washington. Here is what we know about him.
May 22, 2025Updated 7:40 p.m. ET
Elias Rodriguez, a Chicago resident, was charged on Thursday with first-degree murder and other crimes in the killings of two Israeli Embassy aides outside a Jewish museum in Washington.
By some accounts, Mr. Rodriguez, 31, led a life typical of a college-educated young professional in Chicago, residing in an apartment in a middle-class North Side neighborhood, with friends and family nearby.
But he was also increasingly active in left-wing politics, posting on social media and joining demonstrations in Chicago in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, large corporations and racism.
When Mr. Rodriguez was taken into custody after the shooting on Wednesday night, he told police officers, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to an F.B.I. affidavit filed in federal court.
Here’s what else we know about him.
A school and work life that raised no concerns
Born and raised in Chicago, Mr. Rodriguez graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago, a school west of downtown that attracts many local residents.
Sherri McGinnis Gonzalez, a university spokeswoman, said that Mr. Rodriguez attended from the fall of 2016 through the spring of 2018 and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree.
