Elias Rodriguez, the man accused of murdering two Israeli Embassy employees at the Jewish Museum in Washington, did not develop his hate in a vacuum. He was nurtured in a radical ecosystem that promotes anti-American and anti-Israel ideology, with links reaching far beyond U.S. borders.

Rodriguez graduated from the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 2018 with an English degree, but his ideological formation came from the streets and activist networks. During his student years, he was active in the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and its front group, the ANSWER Coalition—Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. He participated in marches organized by these groups and was identified as a PSL member.

Also involved was Black Lives Matter Chicago, which acknowledged Rodriguez’s participation in its events. The group notoriously glorified Hamas paragliders after the October 7 massacre of over 1,200 Israelis. Rodriguez himself shouted “Free Palestine” just before his arrest.