DSA Liberation Caucus: Elias Rodriguez Is a Revolutionary Political Prisoner

Elias Rodriguez shot and killed two people for the crime of working for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. The murder was premeditated, brutal, and an act of political terrorism. 

It also is, according to the Democratic Socialists of America Liberation Caucus–a subsidiary of the party that endorsed members of The Squad and other Democratic Party politicians who have become rising stars in Democratic Party circles– a hero of the liberation movement. He is a political prisoner who must be freed. 

A reminder that most of “the squad” came out of the DSA. https://t.co/nB0IxlLKbU

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) May 28, 2025

To be fair, the DSA Liberation Caucus is not officially recognized by the DSA because no ideological caucus is. On the other hand, the DSA encourages members to create grassroots caucuses, and all the members of the Liberation Caucus are DSA members, and many are leaders within the DSA. 

The Liberation Caucus identifies itself as “A Marxist-Leninist-Maoist caucus in DSA,” and it lives up to its description.They remain members of the DSA because they agree with its basic description of Democratic Socialism, which is the normal pablum that the DSA and everybody who describes themselves as Democratic Socialists mouth:

Capitalism is a system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit. We must replace it with democratic socialism, a system where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society.

We believe there are many avenues that feed into the democratic road to socialism. Our vision pushes further than historic social democracy and leaves behind authoritarian visions of socialism in the dustbin of history.

We want a democracy that creates space for us all to flourish not just survive and answers the fundamental questions of our lives with the input of all. We want to collectively own the key economic drivers that dominate our lives, such as energy production and transportation. We want the multiracial working class united in solidarity instead of divided by fear. We want to win “radical” reforms like single-payer Medicare for All, defunding the police/refunding communities, the Green New Deal, and more as a transition to a freer, more just life. 

We want a democracy powered by everyday people. The capitalist class tells us we are powerless, but together we can take back control.

If you read that, you might think that they want our country to become kinder, gentler, and more equal. “Medicare for All!” 

And, of course, the road to that is total war. 

The DSA itself has only kinda-sorta distancing itself from the call to violence, but doesn’t condemn the statement of the Liberation Caucus. 

Democratic Socialists of America seek to democratically transform our society and reject vigilante violence. We condemn the murder of Israeli embassy workers. Any statement otherwise is not the stance of DSA.

— DSA (@DemSocialists) May 28, 2025

That’s hardly a full-throated rejection of the Liberation Caucus. It’s more akin to a difference of opinion on how best to overturn capitalism. “Sure, we all want the same thing, but disagree on tactics” is about as far as it goes. 

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), a long proponent of Israel, condemned the DSA—whose members include Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—for their “grotesque” statement.

“The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has publicly endorsed the barbaric murder of a young Jewish and Israeli couple,” Torres wrote. “Its call to ‘Free Elias Rodriguez’ is a grotesque attempt to glorify a cold-blooded murderer.”

“After being shot, Sarah Milgrim struggled to crawl away,” he added. “Elias Rodriguez walked over and executed her at point-blank range. This is the antisemitic demon the DSA has chosen to lionize.”

When pressed on whether DSA endorsed the post from the Liberation Caucus, the organization directed JNS to a statement it posted to X on Wednesday.

The DSA could be about to elect the next Mayor of New York–the second largest Jewish city in the world. According to a newly released Emerson poll, its candidate Zohran Mamdani is running second after Andrew Cuomo among Democrats. 

It is right to rebel against the enemy. This is a Maoist law. pic.twitter.com/j8CoHKWOaU

— DSA Liberation Caucus ⛓️‍💥 ☭ (@dsaliberation) May 27, 2025

Every member of the DSA or fellow traveler needs to answer whether they can do more than mouth anodyne rejections of violence; they should be forced to stake out a clear position on whether or not the DSA Liberation Caucus itself is legitimate and whether its members are welcome as part of the Democratic Socialist movement. 

Emerson/PIX 11 NYC Dem mayoral poll shows Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani the clear top two candidates, with Cuomo ultimately beating Mamdani 54-46% in the 10th round of ranked choice tabulations.

Crosstabs show Mamdani doing best with younger, college-educated white voters: pic.twitter.com/sv4W42l0J6

— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) May 28, 2025

Leftists have been playing this “I don’t approve of violence, but…” game for too long. Unless they reject the violence and its motivations in a meaningful way, and do not try to explain it away as going too far in the service of a good cause, they are playing word games. 

Leftists are getting more violent–ratcheting up their tactics from using their free speech rights to violent action. Peaceful, permitted protests are free speech. “Occupations,” assaults, and now assassinations are not, yet we keep hearing approval for and tolerance of such actions from far too many leftists. Short of murder, leftists taking direct action, as they call it, are being applauded, getting donations, helping them break the law, and radical “criminal justice reformers” are giving them a free pass. 

Tut-tutting after things get this far means nothing.