The tragic murders of Israeli embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night have shocked the nation. The young couple—who were planning to get engaged the following week—were gunned down at point-blank range in front of horrified bystanders by Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, Illinois.
Rodriguez, who has since confessed to the killings, reportedly shouted “Free, free Palestine” as he was taken into police custody. According to an FBI affidavit, when D.C. police officers arrived on the scene, Rodriguez spontaneously declared, “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza. I am unarmed.” A witness said Rodriguez appeared to discard his weapon immediately after the shootings.
The affidavit also stated:
During an interview with MPD detectives, after having been advised of his Miranda rights and after waiving them, RODRIGUEZ expressed admiration for the actions of an individual who self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., on February 25, 2024, as a form of protest intended to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. RODRIGUEZ described this person’s actions as courageous and labeled him a ‘martyr.’
It was a despicable act—there is no grey area here. Yet that didn’t stop the ironically named Bronx Anti-War Coalition from praising Rodriguez’s depraved actions on social media, calling them the “highest expression of anti-Zionism” and adding, “We need more Elias Rodriguez in this world.”
This far-left activist group describes itself on its website as “a Lënapehòkink (Bronx)-based, working-class, BIPOC-led, anti-imperialist, direct-action coalition resisting state violence while advancing decolonization.”
Its mission statement tells us all we need to know: “Through a revolutionary decolonial framework, we aim to build people’s power outside of capitalist-imperialist institutions while materially supporting national liberation for all oppressed people, including prisoners.”
The group’s positions are virtually indistinguishable from those of any other antisemitic movement. They “staunchly oppose US/EU/Western imperialism” and consider it “the primary threat to global peace and stability.”
The coalition admits, “We are not a pacifist movement and believe there can be no peace without justice.” Unsurprisingly, they support the “right to resist colonial imperialism by any means necessary, including armed struggle” and call for Israel to be abolished.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), whose congressional district includes the Bronx, condemned the group’s wretched comments and said they have been harassing him since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. Torres wrote, “Violence is not a bug but a feature of virulent Anti-Zionism.”
The Bronx Anti-War Coalition’s remarks prove that they are not an activist group, but rather a terrorist organization. And users on X overwhelmingly called for the group to be investigated by the Department of Justice.
This organization was not alone in extolling Rodriguez’s heinous act. In the video below, TikTok influencer Guy Christensen, AKA “broccoli head,” calls the killing of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim an act of resistance that was justified.
The antisemitic podcaster tells viewers, “I do not condemn the elimination of those two Zionist officials who worked at the Israeli embassy last night.”
“And here’s why,” he said. “Israel has livestreamed a genocide to the entire world for the last two years.”
Growing visibly more agitated as he spoke, Christensen warned viewers not to be “fooled by the media, by the Zionists in this country who are telling you it was an antisemitic terrorist attack. It was not.”
This angry young man seems to embody the dangerous ideological indoctrination that has steadily taken root within U.S. institutions over the past decade. He does not come across as smart, but rather as someone who has been fed vast amounts of propaganda for far too long.
Groups like the Bronx Anti-War Coalition and influencers like Guy Christensen—who glorify political violence and traffic in antisemitic ideology—have no place in a civilized society. If any organization or individual openly celebrated the murder of Muslims on American streets, they would rightly face swift condemnation and legal consequences. The double standard is both glaring and dangerous.
The Trump administration is right to crack down on rising antisemitism, particularly on college campuses where such extremist sentiment often takes root. That effort is not only warranted—it should be expanded. Tolerating hate in the name of activism is not tolerance at all; it’s surrender.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn or X.
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