Israeli Embassy staffers probably expected a quiet evening. They were set to attend an event for young diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night in Washington, DC. They would be cut down by gunfire by a rabid antisemite, Elias Rodriguez, who shouted, “Free Palestine,” as he was taken into custody by police.
It was a political assassination. And this might be a manifesto posted by Rodriguez before the attack (via Times of Israel):
The purported manifesto of the suspected gunman in Washington’s Jewish museum shooting posted online Wednesday night defended using “armed action” to protest what he called the “genocide” being carried out against Palestinians in Gaza.
The statement, posted on the social media platform X at exactly 10 p.m. local time, less than an hour after the shooting, was signed by Elias Rodriguez, the name of the suspect arrested by police. It could have been a scheduled post or posted by a third party; its accuracy has not been verified.
[…]
The approximately 900-word online statement mentions the high death toll in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and references US Air Force serviceman Aaron Bushnell — who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington in February 2024 to protest the war — as on of those who “sacrificed themselves in the hopes of stopping the massacre.”
The statement also expresses dissatisfaction with American support for Israel, claiming that while public opinion has shifted against the Jewish state, “the American government has simply shrugged, they’ll do without public opinion then, criminalize it where they can, suffocate it with bland reassurances that they’re doing all they can to restrain Israel where it cannot criminalize protest outright.”
The writer points to mass protests and demonstrations against the war in the US and other Western cities, but notes that “thus far the rhetoric has not amounted to much.”
The essay ends with what appears to be a defense of “the morality of armed demonstration,” with the author claiming that his actions would have been morally justified even if taken in response to the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, which is when he says he became aware of the conflict. He expresses the belief that his actions will now be viewed by many Americans as “highly legible” and “the only sane thing to do.”
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Whether it’s Rodriguez or not, this person must be visited by federal agents. If it is his work, it only shines more light on his motive, which he exposed by chanting ‘free Palestine’ after he targeted two Israeli Embassy staffers.
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