A man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy workers in Washington as they left an event at a Jewish museum told police after his arrest: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” federal authorities said Thursday as they announced the charges against him.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted “Free Palestine” as he was taken away after his arrest and told police he was the one “who did it,” according to charging documents that provided horrific new details of the Wednesday night attack that left an American woman and an Israeli man engaged to be married.
Authorities described the killings as a targeted terrorist attack.
Rodriguez faces charges of murdering foreign officials and other offenses, and prosecutors said Thursday that additional charges were possible as authorities continue to investigate the case as a hate crime against the Jewish community and terrorism.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said: “Violence against someone because of their religion is cowardly. It is not the act of a hero.
“Anti-Semitism is unacceptable, especially in the country's capital.”
According to court documents released Thursday, the shooting was captured on video outside the museum, where authorities say Rodriguez can be seen continuing to shoot the victims several more times after they fell to the ground.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
