Prosecutors say they have more than 1.5 million pages of evidence as Capital Jewish Museum suspect pleads not guilty
Elias Rodriguez, 31, is charged with murdering Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May
U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Judge Jeanine Pirro, center, speaks during an August news conference regarding an update on the deadly shooting that occurred at the Jewish Capital Museum in May. Photo by Tom Brenner For The Washington Post via Getty Images
By Arno Rosenfeld September 4, 2025
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WASHINGTON — Elias Rodriguez, the Chicago man charged with killing two Israeli Embassy employees outside a Jewish museum here in May, pleaded not guilty to the government’s charges at a brief hearing.
Prosecutors have charged Rodriguez with nine counts related to the murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were shot outside an American Jewish Committee reception at the Capital Jewish Museum. Among the charges are two for first-degree murder, and one for murder of foreign officials.
He has also been charged with two federal counts of hate crime resulting in death.
Rodriguez entered the museum after the shooting and stated, “I did it for Palestine,” according to prosecutors. It is rare for defendants to plead guilty at an arraignment, even if they eventually plan to confess and negotiate a plea agreement with the government.
At the hearing on Thursday, Elizabeth Mullin, one of Rodriguez’s attorneys, requested a jury trial but agreed with the government to delay the case until December in order to review what she described as “trillions of gigabytes” of evidence turned over by federal prosecutors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tortorice told the court that the government had shared more than 1.5 million pages of evidence as well as data from an iPhone and that there was more to come.
The courtroom was packed with both press and observers. The sound of shackles could be heard in the hallway outside the courtroom before Rodriguez entered without handcuffs but wearing an orange jumpsuit and flanked by a U.S. marshall.
He nodded toward what appeared to be a row of half a dozen young supporters sitting on the defense side of the gallery, two of whom held hands as they waited for Rodriguez to enter the courtroom.
Rodriguez, 31, spoke only briefly to tell the clerk he had received a copy of the charges against him and that he was satisfied with his legal team, which consisted of four attorneys present at Thursday’s hearing.
Judge Randolph Moss noted that because the government had the ability to seek the death penalty in the case, it was essential that prosecutors turn over all relevant evidence to the defense. “I have no doubt you will bend over backward to comply,” he told Tortorice.
The indictment against Rodriguez alleges that he shouted “free Palestine” while repeatedly shooting Milgrim and Lischinsky outside the museum on May 21. Prosecutors say he then entered the building, unfurled a red kaffieyeh and yelled “shame on Zio-Nazi terror.”
It remains unclear whether Rodriguez intentionally targeted employees of the Israeli government. Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador, said shortly after the shooting that Rodriguez had mixed with attendees at the reception, identified Milgrim and Lischinsky as embassy employees and, after eventually being asked to leave the event, waited outside and shot the couple as they were leaving.
But other accounts say Rodriguez never made it inside the event prior to the shooting, and the Israeli Embassy stated that Leiter had no evidence and was only sharing “a theory that law enforcement officials are investigating.”
