NYC, Long Island police to increase security after fatal shooting of Israeli Embassy employees in D.C.

Long Island and New York City police forces boosted patrols at local sites the day after two Israeli Embassy employees were killed in what police said was a targeted attack in Washington, D.C.

Suffolk police are boosting their visibility near houses of worship and other religious institutions, the department said in a statement in which it promised to "remain vigilant and continue to share information with our law enforcement partners."

There's no information suggesting a similar threat locally, the department said.

Increased patrols

Nassau police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said there will be increased patrols at all places of worship, especially at synagogues and the county’s five Jewish Community Centers.

The shooter, arrested moments after the attack at a young diplomats reception event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, which supports Israel, yelled "free, free Palestine" after he was taken into custody, according to the police. 

The Israeli Embassy identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim and said they were a couple who planned to get engaged.

Lischinsky worked for the Israeli Embassy's political department focusing on Middle East issues, and Milgrim was with the embassy's department of public diplomacy, said Josh Kramer, the American Jewish Committee's regional director, at an event Thursday with Mayor Eric Adams.

'Violence has no place'

In a statement, Alan Mindel, chairman of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Glen Cove, said: "We must not allow fear to silence our voices or diminish our commitment to understanding and respect. Violence has no place in our communities, especially at a museum."

In remarks posted on Truth Social, President Donald Trump wrote: "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!"

The NYPD said in a statement that the department would be "increasing its presence at religious sites & cultural institutions with high visibility patrols, heavy weapons teams, and counterterrorism officers." 

Adams was briefed Thursday morning on the killings, said his deputy for communications, Fabien Levy, adding the event with Kramer and others was convened to show solidarity. There, Adams condemned the shooting as "a depraved act of terrorism."

Ryder appeared at a news conference Thursday with County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who said: "This antisemitism, these hate crimes, these acts of terrorism, have to stop."

Det. Lt. John Nagle, of the Glen Cove Police Department, said the department has "really upped our policing and our presence at all our sites" since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on Israel. On Oct. 7, militants led by Hamas invaded Israel, killed 1,200 people, including at least 38 children, abducted hundreds and injured thousands, according to the Israeli government. Since Oct. 7, the number of Palestinians killed in Israel's wartime air and ground campaign has exceeded 53,000, including 16,500 children, as of earlier this month, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

Heartbroken embassy

In a post on X, the Israeli Embassy remembered the couple killed late Wednesday evening.

"The entire embassy staff is heartbroken and devastated by their murder. No words can express the depth of our grief and horror at this devastating loss. Our hearts are with their families, and the embassy will be by their side during this terrible time," the post said.

D.C. police identified the shooter as Elias Rodriguez, 30, and said he was from Chicago.

Reuters reported that a document believed to be from Rodriguez and posted online, titled "Escalate For Gaza, Bring The War Home," condemned Israel's killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians since Oct. 7 and defended the morality of "armed" action.

"In the wake of an act people look for a text to fix its meaning so here's an attempt," the document said. "The atrocities committed by Israelis against Palestine defy description and defy quantification."

In the aftermath of Oct. 7, tensions over the war in Gaza have inspired violent attacks, or attempted attacks, in the United States.

In February, a Jewish man in Miami Beach was arrested on attempted murder charges for allegedly opening fire on two men he thought were Palestinians but turned out to be Israelis, The Miami Herald reported.

Earlier this month, an Illinois man was sentenced to 53 years in prison on hate crime and murder charges in the 2023 fatal stabbing death of a 6-year-old American Muslim boy of Palestinian ancestry and wounding of his mom, according to The Associated Press. 

In September, a Pakistani national was charged with plotting — with who turned out to be two undercover law enforcement officers — and trying to enter the United States to carry out an attack against a Jewish center in Brooklyn, timed to Oct. 7's anniversary.

With AP