Group Responds After Former Member Suspected Of Murder
The political aftermath of Wednesday night’s deadly shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum has taken a sharp turn, as the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL)—a far-left organization with a long history of defending “Palestinian resistance”—is now scrambling to distance itself from Elias Rodriguez, the suspect accused of gunning down two Israeli Embassy staffers in cold blood.
The victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were a young couple attending a Jewish cultural event, and Lischinsky had reportedly been planning to propose that very evening. Their lives were cut short by an act of violence now being investigated as an ideologically driven terrorist attack.
According to law enforcement, Rodriguez shouted “Free, free Palestine” during his arrest and carried a Palestinian keffiyeh. Eyewitnesses claim he waited calmly for police after opening fire—a chilling, calculated decision that has prompted federal authorities to scour his digital footprint and investigate reports of a circulating anti-Israel manifesto.
The FBI has confirmed it is reviewing writings allegedly tied to Rodriguez and is weighing charges under terrorism statutes. Deputy Director Dan Bongino publicly declared the shooting “an act of terror,” adding, “The penalties will be harsh.”
Rodriguez’s former ties to the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a group known for radical anti-Israel activism, have become a flashpoint in the aftermath. PSL issued a statement on X claiming Rodriguez “had a brief association” with a local branch that ended in 2017, and declared, “We have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it.”
But their defensive tone did little to extinguish public outrage—especially after it was revealed that PSL deleted a 2017 article identifying Rodriguez as a speaker at one of their events in Chicago. The attempt to scrub history only drew more attention to the group’s deeply controversial record.
Hours after Hamas launched the October 7 massacre that left more than 1,100 Israelis dead—including women raped and children taken hostage—PSL declared the attack “morally and legally legitimate.” They rejected the term “terrorism,” framing the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust as a justified response to “occupation.”
Their activism didn’t stop there. In 2024, PSL members were seen at anti-Israel rallies in Washington, D.C., handing out pamphlets that described the October 7 bloodshed as a “counteroffensive.” Those same protests saw vandalism, violence, and open praise for terrorist groups.
Rodriguez’s left-wing affiliations extend beyond PSL. According to his now-locked LinkedIn profile, he worked for HistoryMakers, a nonprofit focused on African American contributions to U.S. history. That organization has previously promoted Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader notorious for antisemitic remarks, as a voice for “unity” and “positive messaging.”
Though HistoryMakers has not responded to requests for comment, the association adds another layer of concern over how radical ideologies are finding safe harbor in institutions and nonprofits operating under the guise of progressive advocacy.