Former Biden admin official says 'Free Palestine' is now a 'call for violence' after recent shooting

A former Biden administration official on Thursday said the "free Palestine" slogan has now become a call to attack Jewish people, after the phrase was shouted as a man allegedly killed two Israeli embassy staffers on Wednesday night.

Authorities have charged 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez with the two murders, which occurred outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The victims have been identified as Sarah Milgrim and her boyfriend, Yaron Lischinsky.

Rodriguez allegedly shouted "free Palestine" during the attack, and said he committed the crime "for Gaza."

Former President Joe Biden's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt, told CNN that regardless of what the intention behind the phrase initially was, it is now synonymous with a call to hurt or kill Jews.

"I think there’s no question, whatever its initial intent and whatever people were saying initially or meant it, it has become a call for violence, and not violence against Israelis — which is wrong — but violence against Jews," she said. 

"Anybody who ... [tries] to say, ‘Oh, I’m just against Israel’s policies in Palestine or in Gaza, and I’m not antisemitic,’ this was antisemitism pure and simple," she continued. "That he happened to have killed two Israeli staff didn’t matter. It was a Jewish event, they were targets."

Lipstadt said she was not "surprised" by the attack because Jewish people have been constantly on guard since war broke out between Israel and Hamas in 2023. 

"There is no Jewish institution virtually in the world — but certainly in the United States — that doesn’t have security," she said. "If you’re a Jewish young person, your normal is, whether you’re going to synagogue, going to the [Jewish Community Center], you’re going to a film festival, that you’re going to have to go through security — that you have to be taken care of."

Rodriguez, who made his first court appearance on Thursday, has not yet entered a formal plea.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.