Elias Rodriguez, 31, from Chicago, taken into custody by police for allegedly shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

A caucus in the far-left Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has praised Elias Rodriguez, who was charged with murdering two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, last week, and called for his release from prison.

The “Liberation Caucus,” a self-described “Marxist-Leninist-Maoist” faction of the DSA, announced on Tuesday that the organization added its name to an official statement from the far-left group Unity of Fields, which applauded the shooting of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, last Wednesday evening as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC.

“Elias Rodriguez’s targeted attack on two Israeli diplomatic staff on May 21, 2025, was a legitimate act of resistance against the Zionist state and its genocidal campaign in Gaza,” Unity of Fields said in a statement. “After twenty months of non-stop apocalyptic violence wrought by the Zionist movement, inflicted upon Palestinian civilians striving for national liberation as well as on the freedom fighters advancing that national liberation; after twenty months of political and legal repression by these same Zionists against our international movement opposing their campaign of total destruction — the time has now come for real consequences.”

Rodriguez, a 31-year-old left-wing and anti-Israel activist from Chicago, was charged last Thursday in US federal court with two counts of first-degree murder. He is accused of fatally shooting Lischinsky and Milgrim, a young couple about to become engaged to be married, as they left an event for young professionals and diplomatic staff hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC). According to video of the attack and an affidavit filed by US federal authorities supporting the criminal charges, Rodriguez yelled “Free Palestine” while being arrested by police and told law enforcement he “did it for Gaza.”

“Elias Rodriguez’s act was fully justified, at that place where legal and moral duties meet,” United of Fields said in its statement, which was signed by several far-left and anti-Israel organizations. “It is clear that international law, which the West itself established and whose institutions are dominated by the interests of these imperialists, establishes a duty to take action to stop genocide, including the use of violence to do so.”

Unity of Fields urged its followers to lend Rodriguez moral support by sending him letters, donating funds to his prison account, supporting his legal defense, and attending his court hearings. 

The DSA Liberation Caucus praised the statement as “excellent,” and called on authorities to release Rodriguez.

“Excellent statement that we are proud to add our name to. Free Elias Rodriguez and all political prisoners,” the group posted on social media.

Excellent statement that we are proud to add our name to. Free Elias Rodriguez and all political prisoners. https://t.co/z1yW0xm5xZ pic.twitter.com/6MIBhaCFKX

— DSA Liberation Caucus ⛓️‍💥 ☭ (@dsaliberation) May 27, 2025

DSA, one of the country’s premier leftist political advocacy organizations, has mobilized in recent years to elect anti-Israel members to the US Congress. Influential lawmakers such as US Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Greg Casar (D-TX), and Cori Bush (D-MO) are all current members of the socialist organization. Others such as Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Summer Lee (D-PA) are former members.

The organization also counts rising star and aspiring New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani among its ranks. Mamdani has made his anti-Israel activism a centerpiece of his mayoral campaign, accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and arguing that it does not offer “equal rights” to all of its citizens. 

The DSA has ramped up its anti-Israel rhetoric during the Gaza war. On Oct. 7, 2023, the organization issued a statement saying that Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel that day was “a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.” The organization also encouraged its followers to attend an Oct. 8 “All Out for Palestine” event in Manhattan.

In January 2024, the DSA issued a statement calling for an “end to diplomatic and military support of Israel.” Then in April, the organization’s international committee, DSA IC, issued a missive defending Iran’s right to “self-defense” against Israel. Iranian leaders regularly call for the Jewish state’s destruction, and Tehran has long provided Hamas with weapons and funding.