There was an outpouring of emotion Friday for the two Israeli embassy workers gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night.
In a virtual service hosted by the American Jewish Committee, victims Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky were fondly and tearfully remembered by friends, colleagues and diplomats.
The sudden and shocking deaths of the two embassy staffers has reverberated around the world, with leaders of all faiths asking for an end to antisemitism.
“The grief is spreading around the world, and many of our fears have been realized,” American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch said. “Jewish communities from Washington to Tel Aviv to San Paolo [to] Paris, everyone is mourning these devastating murders.”
A close friend of Milgrim, Sam Dreiman of the American Jewish Committee, said he was often struck by the passion she had for building bridges and striving for a better world for Jewish people.
“What struck me so deeply about Sarah was not her gorgeous red hair, which in my mind was the most real-life version of Ariel from ‘The Little Mermaid’ I have ever seen, nor was it her piercing and engaging eyes, which looked like they held a galaxy worth of depth, but it was her courage, her bravery and her sense of mission,” Dreiman said.
Friends said the couple were planning to move in together and had just found a place in Tenleytown.
Lischinsky was remembered Friday for his love for Arab/Israeli cooperation.
“He was always the one who, as Sarah would describe him, would come into a room with a quiet confidence, and he had a smile on his face always that was just warm and welcoming,” friend Benji Rogers said.
Outside the Capital Jewish Museum, people were leaving flowers, messages and mementos, and the museum has now also put out its own tribute to the couple.
Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation tell News4 the FBI searched a room at the Morrow Hotel in D.C.’s NoMa neighborhood, where the suspect, Elias Rodriguez, had stayed after arriving from Chicago. It’s unclear what may have been found there, if anything.
Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said Friday the mayor has reached out to faith leaders in the city and her department is prepared for upcoming events, including WorldPride.
“The ‘see something, say something’ has not gone anywhere,” Smith said. “If you see things happening in our city, we want you to notify us. We are ready. WorldPride is coming up; we have a robust plan.”
At the Israeli embassy in Northwest D.C., a memorial service was held Friday for Milgrim and Lischinsky. Afterward, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter joined the virtual service.
“For me personally, it was a very, very challenging time the past few days,” Leiter said, visibly overcome with emotion. “I was on the other side of the knock on the door when the officers and the IDF came to inform me of my son having been killed, and suddenly I was thrust into the position of knocking on the door and informing Sarah and Yaron’s parents of their passing.”
The man accused of taking their lives is now locked up in the D.C. jail.
from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/i9wLDS0
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