By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. on Wednesday brought federal hate crime charges against the suspect accused of fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside a museum in Washington in May, alleging he targeted them because they were Israelis, court papers showed.
The nine-count indictment returned against Elias Rodriguez accuses him of carrying out a hate crime resulting in death motivated by the “actual and perceived national origin of any person.” Rodriguez also faces charges of first-degree murder and murder of a foreign official.
Rodriguez was accused of fatally shooting Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, a young couple who were about to be engaged to be married. Lischinsky and Milgrim were leaving a May 21 event for young professionals and diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum and hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone)
