May 22, 2025 12:21 PM IST
A man who was at the Jewish event in Washington, D.C., when two people were shot dead has described the events that transpired after the attack.
A man who was at the Jewish event in Washington, D.C., when two Israeli Embassy staff members were shot dead on Wednesday night, May 21, has described the events that transpired after the attack. The suspect has been identified as Elias Rodriguez of Chicago.
‘He was clearly in trauma’
Yoni Kalin, who was at the event, told Fox 5 DC that he heard gunshots and then saw “somebody run in.” “The security guard happened to let this guy in,” Yoni said. “I guess they were thinking that he was a victim, and he was covered in rain. He was clearly in trauma. He was in shock. Some of the people at the event brought him water. They sat him down. ‘Are you okay? Were you shot? What happened?’ And he’s like, ‘Somebody call the cops, bring the cops in.’ So about 10 minutes later, when the cops actually came in, he said, ‘I did this.’ He said, ‘Sir, I’m unarmed.’”
Yoni added, “He put his, put his hands up, he grabbed a red keffiyeh out of his pocket and started the ‘Free Palestine’ chant.” He added that the suspect continued to yell “Free Palestine” while being dragged out of the building. “I tried to hand his keffiyeh back because I didn’t really realize that he murdered two people,” Yoni said.
The event where the shooting took place was largely focused on how to build a coalition to help Gazans, BBC reported. JoJo Kalin, a board member of the American Jewish Committee who organized the event, said, “I’m not going to lose my humanity over this or be deterred. And that Israelis and Palestinians both still deserve self determination and [it is] just deeply ironic that that’s what we were discussing. It was bridge building and then we were all hit over the hide with such hatred.“
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