The Justice Department is pursuing the death penalty against a man accused of fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy employees last May in Washington, D.C.

Prosecutors say Elias Rodriguez shot and killed Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and 26-year-old Sarah Milgrim — a couple who were soon-to-be engaged — outside an event organized by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. The DOJ is seeking the death penalty under murder and hate crime charges, meaning the agency will have to prove that Rodriguez’s crime was motivated by antisemitism.

The court filing states that Rodriguez is charged with specifically targeting his victims, “motivated by political, ideological, national, and religious bias, contempt, and hatred.”

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, addressed the charges briefly in an unrelated press conference on Friday.

“I want to be clear. My message to anyone who seeks to commit political violence in this district, D.C. is not the place. You will be held accountable, and you will face the full wrath of the law,” Pirro told reporters.

Attorneys for Rodriguez did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to the DOJ, Rodriguez took a flight from Chicago to Washington, with a handgun in his luggage, on May 20. The next day, he purchased a ticket to the Young Diplomats Reception and then opened fire outside the museum. Prosecutors said he called out “Free Palestine” while firing his weapon, and after the shots were fired, Rodriguez said, “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza,” according to the charging document.

The shooting came amid increased ground operations in Gaza by the Israeli military. There was a sharp spike in mass casualties in Gaza during this time, according to the British Red Cross. The suspect told police that he was inspired by the actions of former Air Force serviceman Aaron Bushnell, who died in 2024 after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

The DOJ’s decision fits with the Trump administration’s policy of encouraging the use of the death penalty. While former President Joe Biden converted dozens of death sentences to life in prison, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his term aimed at strengthening capital punishment in federal cases. Last month, Trump’s DOJ authorized the use of firing squads in death penalty cases.