Shooting of Israeli Embassy Staff Labeled as a ‘False Flag’
By Nicole Dirks
What happened: Anti-Israel social media users are falsely claiming that the May 21 fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., was orchestrated by either Israel or the U.S. as part of a “false flag” operation to create sympathy for Israel.
Context: On May 21, Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old man from Chicago, allegedly shot and killed two Israeli embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington.
After the shooting, Rodriguez said, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to an affidavit released by the FBI. Several videos of Rodriguez being led away in handcuffs posted by news outlets show him shouting, “Free, free Palestine.”
A closer look: Nevertheless, anti-Israel social media users subsequently said the shooting was a U.S. or Israeli “false flag,” perpetrated by one of the two governments.
Shortly after the shooting, far-right commentator Nick Fuentes posted on X: “False flag, right on schedule. There goes free speech and diplomacy.” The post garnered 2.4 million views and 48,000 likes.
One day later, far-right X user Ryan Matta posted, “You are watching an Israel false flag play out in real time.” The post received 370,200 views and 14,000 likes.
Actually: There is no evidence that Israel or the U.S. orchestrated the shooting or that Rodriguez carried out his alleged actions on the orders of either country.
Although police have not announced a motive in the attack, Rodriguez has expressed pro-Palestinian views in the past and has a history of speaking out against both the U.S. and Israel.
A neighbor of Rodriguez’s told The Wall Street Journal (Trust Score: 100/100) that Rodriguez had a photo in his apartment window of 6-year-old Palestinian American Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was stabbed to death by his landlord in a Chicago suburb in 2023.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that in 2017, Rodriguez issued a post on social media accusing Democrats of “lying” for not working to end the war in Iraq, stating, “It’s up to the people to protect themselves.”