Eric Rodriguz, the father of Elias Rodriguez, who killed a young Israeli diplomat couple outside the Capital Jewish Museum, was invited to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress in March.The invitation was extended by a Democrat representative, who told the New York Post that he did not know anything about his family. Eric Rodriguez is an advocate against attacks on veterans’ services, Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) said.Congressman Garcia condemned the attack and distanced from the shooter’s family. “I strongly condemn this horrible, senseless act of antisemitism. My heart is with the victims and everyone impacted by the attack,” Garcia wrote. Elias has been charged in federal court with two counts of first-degree murder and other charges as he admitted to having murdered Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim while they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. Rodriguez shouted ‘Free free Palestine’ as he was taken into custody after firing nearly two dozen rounds in the couple. “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” he said, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court.

Elias Rodriguesz’s family

An alleged manifesto in his name apparently revealing the motive for his killing, appeared online. It condemned the genocide in Gaza, and he apparently wrote that the murders were the only sane thing to do. The 31-year-old led a “life typical of a college-educated young professional in Chicago, residing in an apartment in a middle-class North Side neighborhood, with friends and family nearby,” the NYT reported. His father Eric is an Iraq War veteran member of the Service Employees International Union. Eric and his wife, the shooter’s mother, live separately, and they refused to comment on the shooting. A worker at a shop near Eric Rodriguez’s Chicago home confirmed he approached the clerk, asking for a translation of an Arabic-language article about his son and the shooting on Thursday, NYP reported.