The man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington earlier this year has pleaded not guilty to an array of criminal charges.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, faces nine counts, including murder of a foreign official and carrying out a hate crime resulting in death.
Federal prosecutors say he gunned down Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, a young couple who worked for the embassy, in May following an event at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Rodriguez allegedly then returned to the museum to identify himself as the shooter and was apprehended, saying “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza.”
He requested a jury trial through his public defender, Elizabeth Mullin, on Thursday at his arraignment, where he appeared engaged and nodded along as the judge addressed his counsel and government lawyers.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, an appointee of former President Obama, acknowledged the “serious nature” of the charges against Rodriguez and designated the case as complex at the government’s request, over no objection from the defense.
The judge also emphasized that Rodriguez’s counsel would need time to undertake the “investigative work” necessary in a possible death penalty case.
The indictment against Rodriguez includes a notice of special findings outlining aggravating factors that could make him eligible for execution, if convicted.
Prosecutors have not said whether they intend to pursue capital punishment. But on his first day back in the White House, President Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. attorney general to seek the death penalty for “all crimes of severity demanding its use.” Attorney General Pam Bondi has said DOJ will secure the “most severe possible punishment” for Rodriguez.
The couple’s killing roiled the nation’s capital and sparked outrage worldwide, as U.S. and global leaders rebuked the act as a showing of antisemitism.
Rodriguez expressed support for violence against Israel online as early as January 2024, according to his indictment. Prosecutors also say he wrote a manifesto explaining that those he deemed “perpetrators and abettors” of Israel’s war in Gaza had “forfeited their humanity.”
The attack has been painted as calculated by prosecutors, who allege Rodriguez flew to from Chicago to the D.C. area with a handgun in his checked luggage the day before the Capital Jewish Museum event.
DOJ lawyer Christopher Tortorice said Thursday that the government has already produced “quite a bit” of discovery to the defense but there’s still more to turn over.
Moss ordered the parties to submit a joint status report by Dec. 5, spelling out the next steps in the case.
This story was updated at 11:09 a.m.