Man charged with killing Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, enters not guilty plea

This photograph taken from the official Facebook account of The Embassy of Israel to the United States of America shows an undated image of Israeli Embassy employees Yaron Lischinsky R and Sarah Lynn Milgrim Photo by 'Israel in the USA' official Facebook account of The Embassy of Israel to the United States of America AFP via Getty Images This photograph taken from the official Facebook account of The Embassy of Israel to the United States of America shows an undated image of Israeli Embassy employees Yaron Lischinsky R and Sarah Lynn Milgrim Photo by 'Israel in the USA' official Facebook account of The Embassy of Israel to the United States of America AFP via Getty Images CNN The man accused of ruthlessly killing two Israeli embassy employees in Washington DC earlier this year chanting pro-Palestine slogans during his arrest pleaded not guilty on Thursday to the charges against him chosen of which could carry the death penalty The federal indictment against Elias Rodriguez who prosecutors say shot and killed Israeli Embassy staff members Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim outside of an American Jewish Committee event in May includes counts of premeditated murder and hate crimes resulting in death Investigators say Rodriguez was caught on surveillance footage approaching Milgrim and Lischinsky as they prepared to leave an event at the Capital Jewish Museum Footage court records say show Rodriguez firing at the two casualties leaning over them with his arm extended as they had fallen to the ground and fired several more times As she still tried to crawl away Rodriguez allegedly followed behind Milgrim and fired again shooting her one last time as she began to sit up Despite the horrific accusations prosecutors will need to convince a jury that the murder was motivated by religious bigotry and not vitriol against the state of Israel Rodriguez repeatedly denounced Israel over the war in Gaza both at the scene of the crime and in alleged statements online including his comment to police after his arrest that I did it for Palestine I did it for Gaza This story is latest and will be updated The-CNN-Wire Cable News Architecture Inc a Warner Bros Discovery Company All rights reserved Source