Chicago raid targets left-wing activist accused in Israeli embassy workers shooting

Authorities raided the Chicago apartment of a 30-year-old left-wing activist accused of killing two Israeli embassy workers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C., Thursday, a day after the surprise attack, as the FBI looks to verify the authenticity of an apparent antisemitic “manifesto” circulating online.

Agents and officers in tactical gear, carrying rifles and at least one ballistic shield, were seen swarming the brick building around 9 a.m.

Elias Rodriguez is accused of lurking outside an event at the museum and then opening fire on two people as they were leaving. 

TWO ISRAELI EMBASSY WORKERS SHOT, KILLED DURING EVENT AT CAPITAL JEWISH MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON, DC

FBI agents leave the Albany Park apartment building where Elias Rodriguez, a suspect in the Wednesday fatal shootings of two members of the Israeli Embassy near the Jewish museum in Washington, D.C., is believed to have lived. Rodriguez was being held for questioning, authorities said Thursday. He was being interviewed early Thursday by D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department as well as the FBI, according to officials.  (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

Images from FOX 32 Chicago show investigators on scene for much of Thursday morning, coming and going from an apartment complex in the Albany Park neighborhood. 

One of them also showed a sign hanging in a window reading, “Justice for Wadea.”

A neighbor, John Wayne Fry, told reporters outside Thursday that the window belonged to Rodriguez. 

“That gave me the impression that they were very, very sensitive people, especially about the issue of Palestine,” he said.  

WITNESS RECOUNTS MOMENT JEWISH MUSEUM SHOOTER ALLEGEDLY CONFESSED ‘I DID THIS FOR GAZA’

Elias Rodriguez, the 30-year-old suspect accused of shooting two Israeli Embassy workers on Wednesday, May 21, in Washington D.C. (INSTAGRAM/@shinewithisrael)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the suspect a “brutal terrorist” Thursday and condemned liberal governments in Europe that he accused of supporting Hamas over Israel. 

After the Metropolitan Police Department took Rodriguez into custody, he shouted the anti-Israel protest slogan, “Free, free Palestine!”

CHICAGO, UNITED STATES – MAY 22: Officers set up a police cordon at the entrance of the building after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents conduct a raid at the Chicago residence of Elias Rodriguez, the suspect in the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff members outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2025. The operation is part of an ongoing investigation into the incident.  (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Wadea al-Fayoume was a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy killed in his family’s Illinois home in a hate crime attack days after Hamas launched a terror attack against Israel that authorities called the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history.

WHO IS THE SUSPECT IN THE KILLING OF 2 ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFFERS?

Signs are seen in the window of a building at an address listed in public records as the home of Elias Rodriguez, who police identified as the suspect in the killing of two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Chicago.  (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

It left more than 1,200 civilians dead, including at least 40 Americans, according to the Defense Department.

Seven days after the Hamas attack, Wadea’s landlord Joseph Czuba, 73, stabbed him 26 times with a knife and attacked his mother, too. A jury found him guilty in February of murder, attempted murder, hate crimes and other charges.

A sign in a window at Rodriguez’s apartment complex calls for “Justice for Wadea.” Wadea al-Fayoume was a Palestinian-American 6-year-old killed in his family’s Illinois home in a hate crime inspired by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel. (FOX 32 Chicago)

A possible manifesto condemning Israel’s response to the Hamas attack has been circulating online, attributed to Rodriguez without confirmation. Dan Bongino, deputy director of the FBI, wrote on X that the bureau was aware of the document and investigating its authenticity. 

“The subject is in custody and interviewed last night at approximately 1 a.m.,” he added. “As this is a pending investigation, we will share more with you when we are able.”

Investigators come and go from an apartment complex in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, the home of the 30-year-old suspect in a double murder at a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. (FOX 32 Chicago)

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said Rodriguez is the only suspect.

In 2017, he was photographed by Liberation – a self-described socialist news site – outside then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house during a dual protest against Amazon and the death of a Black man who had been killed by a police officer.

The article appears to have been taken down, but an archived version shows he accused Amazon of “whitening Seattle” and claimed that the corporation forced people into “deeper and deeper poverty.”

Investigators come and go from an apartment complex in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, the home of the 30-year-old suspect in a double murder at a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. (FOX 32 Chicago)

The outlet described him as a member of the “Party for Socialism and Liberation” – at least at the time. The group, which has publicly criticized Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack, disavowed Rodriguez Tuesday and condemned the shooting.

“He had a brief association with one branch of the PSL that ended in 2017. We know of no contact with him in over 7 years.

The victims of Wednesday night’s shooting have been identified as Sarah Milgrim, a U.S. citizen who worked at the embassy, and Yaron Lischinsky, a Christian Israeli. 

A man is in custody after allegedly killing two Israeli embassy staff members who were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night, authorities confirmed. (Instagram/@shinewithisrael | Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Lischinsky’s father, Daniel Lischinsky, told Fox News’ Trey Yingst that the two were dating, and his son had planned to propose to Milgrim soon. 

“They were in love, one for the other,” he said. “The embassy told us they were like a star couple at the embassy. I never expected something like this.”

They were killed walking out of an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee – that focused on finding humanitarian solutions for Palestinians in Gaza.

Fox News’ Alexandra Koch and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.