A Chicago man’s descent into radical violence, allegedly murdering two Israeli embassy workers, traces back to a shadowy left-wing network’s funding of his trip to a 2017 “resistance” convention.
Elias Rodriguez, 30, reportedly shouted “Free Palestine” after gunning down Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, as the Washington Free Beacon reports. His radicalization, prosecutors say, began with a conference tied to groups cozy with the Chinese Communist Party and pro-Hamas agitators.
Rodriguez, a Chicago native, allegedly killed the diplomats as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The 2017 People’s Congress of Resistance, a two-day event at Howard University, set him on this path by organizing anti-Trump “grassroots resistance.” ANSWER Chicago, a subsidiary of the ANSWER Coalition, raised funds to send him there, planting seeds of extremism.
ANSWER Chicago’s crowdfunding plea described Rodriguez as a “young resister” and son of an Iraq War veteran. “I don’t want to see another generation of Americans coming home from genocidal imperialist wars with trophies,” Rodriguez wrote on his fundraising page. That heartfelt plea now reads like a grim prelude to his alleged crimes.
The People’s Congress of Resistance, organized by ANSWER Coalition, CODEPINK, and the pro-Hamas Samidoun, designated a terrorist group in 2023, was a breeding ground for radical ideas. Rodriguez, inspired, joined the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist outfit tied to ANSWER Chicago. He even spoke at a post-conference meeting, gushing about the event’s “determinism” to “really win.”
“The People’s Congress was all about organizing the most oppressed to win real victories,” Rodriguez said in a video. His enthusiasm for “going beyond activism” now chills in light of his alleged murders. Actions, it seems, have consequences. Rodriguez’s father, an Army National Guardsman, brought home war souvenirs from Iraq, including a patch from an Iraqi soldier’s uniform, when Elias was 11. That personal connection fueled his anti-war rhetoric, but the conference twisted it into something darker, and by October 2017, he was protesting outside then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home, railing against Amazon subsidies.
ANSWER Coalition, a key player, faces accusations of being a conduit for Chinese Communist Party-affiliated groups pushing anti-American agendas. Congressional Republicans launched a 2023 probe into these ties, spotlighting figures like Neville Roy Singham, an entrepreneur funding CCP-linked nonprofits. The Network Research Contagion Institute warns of ANSWER’s role in advancing anti-democratic narratives through pro-Palestinian activism.
“Every single one of these groups and their funding should be investigated immediately,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). His call for scrutiny underscores the stakes when shadowy networks bankroll impressionable radicals. The Progress Unity Fund, a charity funneling $232,000 to ANSWER’s 2023 activities, including Gaza ceasefire protests, raises further red flags.
ANSWER Chicago shares organizers such as Beth Massey, Patrick McWilliams, and Candice Choo-Kang with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Progress Unity Fund. Choo-Kang even chipped in $25 to Rodriguez’s GoFundMe for the 2017 trip. These incestuous ties suggest a well-oiled machine of radical recruitment.
In January 2018, Rodriguez, identified as an ANSWER Chicago member, joined another anti-Amazon protest. “If we can keep Amazon out, that is a huge victory,” he said, touting the “power of people.” That rhetoric, once about corporate subsidies, now haunts as a prelude to his alleged deadly actions.
Rodriguez’s affiliation with the Party for Socialism and Liberation was brief, the group claimed Thursday, distancing itself by removing a video of him discussing his 2017 trip. Their hasty retreat reeks of damage control. ANSWER Chicago, meanwhile, stayed silent when pressed for comment.
Vijay Prashad, a Marxist journalist and Singham associate, helped convene the People’s Congress of Resistance, adding another layer of ideological heft. Rodriguez, swept up in this fervor, saw the event as a call to “really win.” His interpretation, tragically, ended in bloodshed.
On Wednesday, Rodriguez allegedly shot Lischinsky and Milgrim, waving a keffiyeh and shouting “Free Palestine” after the act. Witnesses described a chilling scene outside the Capital Jewish Museum. He admitted to the killings and now faces first-degree murder charges.
“I’m attending the People’s Congress of Resistance to put an end to imperialist war,” Rodriguez declared in 2017. That noble-sounding goal morphed into a twisted justification for violence. The left’s romance with radical chic, it seems, has a body count.
Rodriguez’s journey from Chicago protester to alleged murderer exposes the dangers of unchecked radical networks. Groups like ANSWER Coalition, cloaked in activism, peddle ideologies that can spiral into violence. A congressional investigation into their funding and ties couldn't come soon enough.
