On May 21, 2025, two Israeli Embassy staff members were gunned down in cold blood in the heart of Washington, D.C. The shooter, Elias Rodriguez, a self-proclaimed revolutionary and documented member of a far-left extremist group, left behind a manifesto soaked in anti-Israel venom, radical anti-Western ideology, and clear antisemitic hatred.
America must wake up to the reality that extremism is not confined to one side of the aisle.
While the Trump administration offered strong condemnations and the media scrambled for facts, one truth was glaringly omitted from much of the early coverage: this was an act of ideological terror rooted not in the boogeyman of “right-wing extremism,” but in a virulent strain of leftist radicalism that has been festering in plain sight.
Rodriguez’s social affiliations, as confirmed by The Times of Israel, Reuters, and Israel Hayom, tie him to organizations known for promoting anti-Israel, pro-BDS rhetoric, movements increasingly normalized within academic institutions, activist spaces, and even the Democratic Party’s progressive flank. His manifesto, now public, reads like a mashup of far-left academic jargon and revolutionary violence: Zionism is labeled a “colonial cancer,” and Israel is portrayed as a Western imperial outpost deserving “armed resistance.”
This is not just random violence. It’s the logical consequence of a climate where hatred of Israel has been rebranded as social justice, and where “decolonization” is no longer a metaphor but a call to arms.
Left and Right Extremism Not Treated Equally
The double standard is stark. Had Rodriguez been a white nationalist or a self-identified conservative, legacy media outlets would have had his political affiliations in every headline. Editorial pages would be ablaze with demands to crack down on “right-wing terror.” Congressional hearings would be underway. And yet when a leftist zealot kills Jews, the coverage is cautious, euphemistic, or simply silent.
This silence is dangerous.
Antisemitism doesn’t come from only one direction. While the right is endlessly scrutinized for any whiff of extremism, the left has cultivated its own ecosystem of hate under the cover of human rights advocacy. Groups like Students for Justice in Palestine, which have echoed similar language to Rodriguez’s, are protected on campuses under free speech, even as they normalize violence and dehumanization.
Let us be clear: Elias Rodriguez did not act in a vacuum. He was radicalized by a movement that is being tolerated, platformed, and in some cases praised by the liberal establishment. His ideology mirrors the rhetoric of certain members of Congress who have equated Israeli defense actions with genocide and accused Israel of apartheid without acknowledging Hamas terrorism or Iran’s involvement.
The deaths of these Israeli diplomats should be a turning point.
The Trump administration must designate the attack for what it is: far-left antisemitic terrorism. The Department of Justice must investigate the radical networks that bred this ideology. And universities and NGOs must be held accountable for enabling rhetoric that incites hate and violence under the guise of activism.
The press, too, must reckon with its bias. If a shooter’s ideology is relevant when it leans right, it is equally relevant when it leans left. If we are to have an honest conversation about domestic extremism, we must be willing to name all of its forms.
This was not just an attack on Israel. It was an attack on diplomacy, decency, and on the idea that civil society can survive in the face of political fanaticism. America must wake up to the reality that extremism is not confined to one side of the aisle.
And neither is the blood it spills.
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