After two young Israeli embassy staff members in Washington, D.C., were shot to death late Wednesday night in an apparent antisemitic attack just blocks from the United States Capitol, federal authorities are investigating a so-called manifesto they think came from the alleged shooter.

The suspect, who yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, allegedly posted a 900-word note to an account on X that it is linked to other accounts with the name and photo of Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old from Chicago who authorities identify as the suspected shooter, CNN reported. 

The letter posted on Wednesday expressed fury over the “atrocities committed by the Israelis against Palestine” and referenced “armed action” as a valid form of protest — one that is “the only sane thing to do.”

“An armed action is not necessarily a military action. It usually is not. Usually it is theater and spectacle, a quality it shares with many unarmed actions,” the document says, adding those  “of us against the genocide” have “forfeited their humanity.”

“The Israelis themselves boast about their own shock at the free hand the Americans have given them to exterminate the Palestinians. Public opinion has shifted against the genocidal apartheid state, and the American government has simply shrugged, they’ll do without public opinion then, criminalize it where they can, suffocate it with bland reassurances that they’re doing all they can to restrain Israel where it cannot criminalize protest outright,” the manifesto says.

The shooting occurred shortly after 9 p.m. outside the Capital Jewish Museum during an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee. The victims, identified as Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26 — who had plans to become engaged next week — were shot at close range. 

Witnesses reported that the suspect, identified by police as Rodriguez, shouted “free Palestine” after the attack and continued chanting similar slogans as he was taken into custody. One witness told NBC News that after the shooting, the suspect yelled, “I did it. I did it for Gaza. Free, free Palestine.”

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on social media that “early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence.” Attorney General Pam Bondi has also highlighted the apparent antisemitic connections to the shooting.

“No parents should have to be called and told that their children were violently murdered leaving a religious event at the Jewish Museum,” Ms. Bondi said. “That should never happen in this world and not in our country. And this person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

In an ironic twist, the museum event was held to find ways to deliver aid to Gaza, an aid group said. “We, and all the attendees, gathered in the interest of finding practical solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” IsraAID, an independent Israel-based aid group, said in a statement.

The organizer of the event, Jojo Drake Kalin, told Sky News she initially mistook the suspected shooter for a bystander when he entered the building after gunshots were heard. “It’s painfully ironic that at a time when we were speaking about bridge building, somebody came in with such hate and destruction,” she said.

FBI and Homeland Security agents quickly locked down the area. “Two Israeli Embassy staff were senselessly killed tonight near the Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share,” Homeland Security Director Noem said in a statement.

The attack drew swift condemnation from President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Mr. Trump said the killings were “based obviously on antisemitism,” while Mr. Netanyahu said, “We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel.” In a post on X, Vice President Vance said “Antisemitic violence has no place in the United States.”

Daniel Lischinsky, the young man’s father, said “They were in love. One for the other. The embassy told us they were like a star couple at the embassy. I never expected something like this. He had his whole life before him.”

Mr. Lischinsky, an Israeli who was a 2021 graduate of Hebrew University of Jerusalem and held a German passport, had served in the Israeli Defense Forces from 2013 to 2016. Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor described him as “a German Christian who was dedicated to the Zionist cause. He embodied the Judeo-Christian values and set an example for young people worldwide.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Milgrim, an American, recently earned her master’s degree in international relations from American University in 2023 and worked in the embassy’s public diplomacy department. Both were remembered fondly by colleagues and officials.

 Ms. Milgrim worked with Tech2Peace in Tel Aviv, where she conducted research on peacebuilding initiatives in the Israeli-Palestinian region. “My passion lies at the intersection of peacebuilding, religious engagement, and environmental work,” she wrote on her LinkedIn page.

“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives. This evening, a terrorist shot and killed them as they exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C.,” the Israeli embassy said in a post on X.

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, shared the couple’s personal story during a press conference early Thursday morning, further underscoring the tragedy.

“The couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of ‘free Palestine’ was a young couple about to be engaged,” Ambassador Leiter said. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem.”

The Capital Jewish Museum also issued a statement, saying it was “built to tell the centuries-old story of the greater Washington region’s vibrant Jewish community. In our work, we share Jewish stories in the service of building bridges and opening dialogue in our beautiful city.”

“Such acts of terror attempt to instill fear, silence voices and erase history – but we refuse to let them succeed,” the museum wrote.

World leaders and Jewish communities alike have expressed outrage over the attack. Israel’s representative to the United Nations, Danny Danon, labeled the event an act of “antisemitic terrorism.”

“The fatal shooting that took place outside the event that took place at the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. is a depraved act of antisemitic terrorism,” Mr. Danon said. “Harming the Jewish community is crossing a red line.”

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the incident as “an abhorrent act of antisemitic barbarity” and vowed to increase security around symbolic sites while engaging with Jewish community representatives for further support.

The suspect, Mr. Rodriguez, worked at the health-care non-profit American Osteopathic Information Association, Reuters reported. He also reportedly graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago with an English degree.