Federal prosecutors said Friday that they will seek the death penalty for the man charged with killing a young couple at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. last year.
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In a court filing, the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. said Elias Rodriguez — who faces charges that include murder and hate crimes — was “motivated by political, ideological, national, and religious bias, contempt, and hatred.”
Authorities have said Rodriguez had expressed deep anger toward Israel before approaching people leaving a “Young Diplomats Reception” at the Capital Jewish Museum last May and opening fire.
Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, a couple who had met while working for the Israeli Embassy in D.C., were both killed.
In court papers, officials have said Rodriguez fired about 20 shots at them. During the shooting, they alleged, “he called out, ‘Free Palestine.’”
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for D.C., has previously called the shooting a “targeted act of terror.”
In a statement, Pirro said that the decision to seek the death penalty followed an “extensive review of the facts and the law.”
“Let me be clear: anyone who commits acts of political violence in the nation’s capital will face the full force of the law,” she said.
Attorneys for Rodriguez did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday about Pirro’s office filing its notice that prosecutors would seek the death penalty for him.
The notice came as the Trump administration has sought to ramp up its use of, and support for, capital punishment.
President Donald Trump is a longtime supporter of the death penalty, and officials within his administration have echoed that stance.
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Last month, the Justice Department said it was seeking to revive a lethal injection protocol used during Trump’s first term, when federal officials carried out 13 executions. The agency also said it wanted to make other methods of execution, including firing squads and electric chairs, available for carrying out federal death sentences.
The Biden administration had imposed a pause on executions. Shortly before President Joe Biden left office, he commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, changing their punishments to life in prison. Trump and his allies have assailed that decision.
After Trump returned to the White House, his second administration has emphasized its advocacy for the death penalty.
Pam Bondi, who was attorney general until Trump forced her out last month, had issued a directive saying she was focused on “reviving the federal death penalty.”
When the Justice Department considers whether to pursue death sentences, the agency sends cases to an internal review committee to recommend whether to seek that punishment.
Defense attorneys, as part of this process, are supposed to be given a chance to present their side and argue against the death penalty. The final decision rests with the attorney general.
Trump has said he wants the death penalty used more in D.C., which has strained some defense teams.
In the Capital Jewish Museum case, attorneys for Rodriguez wrote last year that they needed more time than Justice Department officials were giving them to make their case against the death penalty.
Prosecutors pushed back, essentially saying the defense was being given enough time. Both sides later said in a joint court filing that prosecutors had given the defense some more time. In another joint filing last month, both sides wrote that the defense had met with the Justice Department’s internal review committee that recommends whether to seek death sentences.
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