Shooting witness of Israeli embassy staff says he saw 'same thing' in shooter’s eyes as Columbia protestors

An eyewitness to the shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers said on Thursday he saw the same thing in the eyes of the shooter that he did in the eyes of protesters at Columbia University. 

"We were in the secure room when he initially walked in," Jonathan Epstein, a witness to the deadly shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum at around 9:08 p.m. Wednesday that took the lives of Sarah Lynn Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, two employees at the Israeli embassy who were about to be engaged. 

Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old male, is the suspect in the shooting and is in custody.

"I saw him screaming and then being handcuffed," Epstein said on CNN. "But what I saw in his eyes, I mean, I went to Columbia for grad school, and I saw the same thing in his eyes as I saw in the eyes of all the protesters at Columbia. Nothing different between him and them." 

WITNESS RECOUNTS CHILLING MOMENT DC JEWISH MUSEUM SHOOTER CONFESSED 'I DID THIS FOR GAZA'

Elias Rodriguez 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)

On May 7, 2025, over 100 anti-Israel protesters stormed the campus library of Columbia University to show support for Mahmoud Khalil, the said instigator of pro-Palestinian protests at the school. 

Acting president of Columbia University, Claire Shipman, said the protesters allegedly damaged the campus building and staked out one of the library's main reading rooms, blocking the building's front door. 

While CNN anchor Sara Sidner said the Columbia protesters "did not create this horrific shooting," Epstein pushed back.

"They gave permission, they gave the permission, and they‘ve called for this," Epstein said. "They have called for intifada revolution, which is the same thing he yelled last night." 

FROM CAMPUS PROTESTS TO DEADLY VIOLENCE: ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFF MURDERED IN DC

Security officers surround the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, on May 22, 2025, following a shooting that left two people dead, in . Two Israeli embassy staffers, identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim by the Israeli foreign ministry, were shot dead late May 21, outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted "free Palestine," authorities said, with US officials and Israeli diplomats expressing shock and outrage over the killings. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

When Sidner questioned if there will come a time when there is a "conflation" of people who are protesting and "speaking their mind, who really care about what is happening in Gaza, and those people who are like this person who did this horrific shooting, who intend to do harm," Epstein said he thinks that could already be happening. 

"A conflation," Epstein said. "I mean, they are calling for intifada at Columbia University. They call for intifada constantly. They‘re not quiet. They‘re loud. They‘re loud. You can hear it. They make recordings of themselves. So what‘s the difference?" 

In response to Sidner’s question asking him if he was afraid, he said that he was, and "everyone should be," but that life must go on. 

"Well, I think you just go on and live your life," Epstein said. "I‘m a New Yorker. I remember 9/11. You can‘t let them make you be afraid. You have to go on. You have to live your life. And hopefully your government does things to protect you. Last night, our government failed us." 

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)

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