The Democratic Socialists of America's Liberation Caucus has advocated for Elias Rodriguez, the "free Palestine" agitator who is the suspect in the shooting of two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington, DC. The DSA Liberation Caucus referred to Rodriguez as a "political prisoner."
Rodriguez was arrested right after the killings and was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He is alleged to have stood over Sara Milgrim, 26, and shot her repeatedly as she tried to crawl away, going as far as to reload just to keep shooting her. Rodriguez is also charged with the murder of Yaron Lischinsky, Milgrim's soon-to-be fiance, who was gunned down outside the Jewish Museum at Milgrim's side.
In addition to his activism against Israel, Rodriguez was revealed to be in favor of the "genocide of white people."
"Lol you probably would have to actually genocide white people to make this a normal country," Rodriguez wrote to his friends. "Like even a very targeted and selective rehabilitation program would probably have to lead to the lifetime imprisonments of tens of millions of white people," Rodriguez added.
The Liberation Caucus wrote, "Excellent statement that we are proud to add our name to. Free Elias Rodriguez and all political prisoners." Rodriguez shouted "free, free Palestine" as he was led away in handcuffs after police were called to the scene of the murders.
The statement reads: "The Palestinian struggle is the tip of the spear against global imperialism. As imperialism has made the entire world its battlefield, it is justified to fight it, by any means necessary, without regard for geography.
"This holds especially true for those of us struggling behind enemy lines, inside the US, an entity that is an equal party in all crimes committed by the zionists. Whether in the besieged Gaza Strip, the Red Sea, the South of Lebanon or the heart of the US, there must be consequences for genocidal zionist imperialism, and those consequences are righteous."
Milgrim was an American Christian from Kansas, and Lischinsky was the son of a Jewish man and a Christian woman from Israel. While the Democratic Socialists of America did not share the sentiment of the Liberation Caucus themselves, their comment on the matter was brief.
"Democratic Socialists of America seek to democratically transform our society and reject vigilante violence. We condemn the murder of Israeli embassy workers. Any statement otherwise is not the stance of DSA," they said.
New York's Rep Ritchie Torres slammed the statement from the Liberation Caucus, linking it to the DSA, saying, "The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has publicly endorsed the barbaric murder of a young Jewish and Israeli couple. Its call to 'Free Elias Rodriguez' is a grotesque attempt to glorify a cold-blooded murderer.
"After being shot, Sarah Milgrim struggled to crawl away. Elias Rodriguez walked over and executed her at point-blank range. This is the antisemitic demon the DSA has chosen to lionize."
The Liberation Caucus defines itself as "a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist caucus in Democratic Socialists of America." Further, they say "as Maoists in DSA, we believe that ideological and political struggle can not be shirked and Comrade Mao’s call to combat liberalism must be heeded and taken seriously, otherwise opportunist and revisionist trends will arise and rot the soul of the organization. Therefore, we operate under these principles and call on all revolutionary communists working in DSA to unite with us."
