Authorities in Washington said they were investigating the shooting “as an act of terrorism and as a hate crime” ahead of a preliminary court hearing set for alleged killer Elias Rodriguez on June 18.
President Donald Trump – who spoke with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – posted on social media that the attack was clearly anti-Semitic.
The shooting, just a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the White House, triggered international outrage as Israel blamed European criticism of its Gaza offensive in response to the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
The victims of Wednesday’s attack, Israeli citizen Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, a US employee of the embassy, had been planning to marry.
