FBI investigating killing of Israeli Embassy employees as possible hate crime

The killing of two Israeli Embassy employees near the Jewish Museum in Washington D C is being investigated as a hate crime according to the FBI Steven Jensen the assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office announced in a news conference that the federal law enforcement entity is working alongside the Metropolitan Police Department MPD to look into ties to possible terrorism or motivation based on a bias-based crime or a hate crime D C Mayor Muriel Bowser hosted the news conference alongside law enforcement Attorney General Pam Bondi Israel's ambassador to the U S Yechiel Leiter and others TWO ISRAELI DIPLOMATS SHOT KILLED DURING EVENT AT CAPITAL JEWISH MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON DCShe echoed Jensen's comments saying that the FBI's role of syllabus as dependably when there is any possibility of a terrorist act or acts motivated by hate or other bias the FBI will be conducting those investigations We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism she disclosed during the news conference We will not tolerate antisemitism The casualties were identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim a couple who both worked at the embassy They were shot around p m Wednesday Lischinsky was born in Israel and grew up in Germany His father is Jewish and his mother is Christian Milgrim was an American employee of the embassy Leiter disclosed the two casualties were dating and on the verge of engagement and that Lischinsky had purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem FATAL SHOOTING OF ISRAELI EMBASSY WORKERS IN DC SPARKS OUTRAGE FROM TRUMP ISRAELI PRESIDENTThe event at the museum was for young Jewish professionals who work in foreign framework According to MPD Chief Pamela Smith the suspect is -year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago who was pacing outside the museum during the event and yelled Free free Palestine while he was in police custody The suspect's weapon has been recovered Last night s act of terror has the full attention of your FBI FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino disclosed in a post on X on Thursday morning Targeted acts of anti-Semitic violence are typically carried out by spineless gutless cowards And the penalties will be harsh as we tighten up this analysis and run down any additional leads I should have additional updates for you shortly as I head back to FBI HQ Jason Pack a retired FBI supervisory special agent communicated Fox News Digital that all signs point to a hate-driven act Right now the FBI Diplomatic Prevention Amenity and D C Police are going through the suspect s entire digital life his phone social media and contacts to figure out if this was a lone act or something bigger he noted Whether it gets officially classified as domestic terrorism is up to prosecutors but the motive and the setting a Jewish museum Israeli diplomats it s hard to ignore the larger message behind it he commented Pack declared that the FBI s Joint Terrorism Task Force is taking the lead in the examination specifically because the killings were an attack on a cultural institution in the middle of Washington D C and that federal agencies are already increasing precaution at Jewish sites across the country Pack also declared that though it appears the suspect acted alone the FBI will dig its heels in to determine whether anyone else knew of the plan or whether he was encouraged to carry out an attack by anyone else Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI on Thursday morning Fox News' Alex Nitzberg and Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this account