When interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro began her tenure as Westchester County, N.Y., district attorney on New Years Day in 1994, she walked into her new office to discover a backlog of antisemitism-related cases left behind by her predecessor. 

“One had to do with a swastika cut into the grass at Winged Foot Golf Club. I don’t know if you know Winged Foot, but it’s the creme de la creme of golf courses,” she remarked during an interview with Jewish Insider at her D.C. office on Tuesday. 

Pirro said learning of the scope of antisemitism in Westchester County, which has long been home to a sizable Jewish population, opened her eyes to “the trauma and the revictimization” of the Jewish people and prompted her to get involved with efforts to promote Holocaust education through the Simon Wiesenthal Center. 

“It’s almost like this thing that follows me,” Pirro said of prosecuting anti-Jewish hate crimes, calling it “so telling” that the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington — by a 31-year-old suspect who witnesses said shouted “free Palestine” and “I did it for Gaza” — took place during her first week in her current role. 

“My introduction here was just stunning, and it kind of brought me back to where I started, as a local DA, right off the bat with antisemitism,” she said of her initial days as U.S. attorney for the nation’s capital.

President Donald Trump appointed Pirro, known colloquially as Judge Jeanine from her 11 years hosting “Justice with Judge Jeanine” on Fox News’ weekend lineup, to serve as Washington’s chief federal law enforcement officer in an acting capacity in mid-May. He formally nominated her for a full term in the position a month later.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines last week to advance Pirro’s nomination, and she’s expected to come before the full Senate in the fall, when the chamber returns from its August recess.

Pirro emerged as one of Trump’s most vocal defenders on the network, and is a personal friend of the president. She aggressively disputed allegations at the start of his first term of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to swing the 2016 election in the president’s favor. Her repeated on-air claims that Democrats had rigged the 2020 election for former President Joe Biden in the aftermath of Trump’s defeat was referenced several times in Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against the network, which Fox ultimately settled for $787.5 million in 2023.

She had been co-hosting Fox’s “The Five,” one of the network’s top rated programs, in New York in early May when she agreed to join the Trump administration. The decision came after Ed Martin’s nomination to the U.S. attorney role was pulled over collapsing support among Senate Republicans due to his lack of experience as a prosecutor, ties to alleged Nazi sympathizers and defense of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Within weeks, Pirro found herself speaking to the nation about the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers, one of the highest profile antisemitic crimes in the nation’s capital — amid growing antisemitism taking place across the country. 

“What I want to be clear about today, since this is the first time you are hearing from me, is that this is a horrific crime. And these crimes are not going to be tolerated by me and by this office. A young couple at the beginning of their life’s journey, about to be engaged in another country, had their bodies removed in the cold of the night, in a foreign city, in a body bag,” Pirro said at a press conference the morning after the May 21 slayings of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky.

“I am not unaware, based upon my own background, of the repercussions of this kind of case. This is the kind of case that picks at old sores and old scars, because these kinds of cases remind us of what has happened in the past that we can never and must never forget,” she continued. 

In addition to prosecuting the alleged assailant, Elias Rodriguez, Pirro has been doing outreach to Jewish groups to find ways to offer her office’s resources and “highlight that I’m here. Call me.”

She recently connected with the family of Malki Roth, the 15-year-old Israeli American killed in a 2001 suicide bombing at a Sbarro restaurant in Israel, who informed her that they had never heard from anyone at her senior level in the Justice Department about their daughter’s death.

“I said to myself: I ain’t high up, but it’s sad they lost a daughter and they didn’t get the attention that they needed. They will get that attention now, and I am determined to do whatever I can,” Pirro said. 

As part of that commitment, Pirro said she’s “working on” securing the extradition from Jordan of Ahlam Tamimi, a Palestinian terrorist convicted by an Israeli court for her role in the bombing, to the U.S. in order to face federal charges for the attack, which Roth’s parents have been advocating for since their daughter’s death. 

Tamimi was released from Israel to Jordan as part of a 2011 deal. Jordan has repeatedly refused U.S. extradition requests for Tamimi since the DOJ indictment against her became public in 2017.

Pirro noted that Tamimi has expressed no remorse for her actions and is living a life of fame and freedom in Jordan, where she became well known for hosting a program on a Hamas-affiliated television network for years. “That hate has always been so incomprehensible to me, and that’s why this has always been a mission. Now I’m back at my roots, and I continue with the mission,” she said.

“I don’t want to look in anymore. I want to look out,” Pirro said. “I want the people on the outside to know that there’s someone on the inside that they have access to, that they can speak with, that they can go back into the community and say, ‘She’s taking a strong stand. She’s going to prosecute these cases. She feels strongly about them, and if you’re not sure, go talk to her.’”

Pirro said that the office’s national security division is also pursuing three active cases “in the Arab world.”

Asked about what tools she could utilize as U.S. attorney in the broader fight against antisemitism, Pirro said that she and her team were reaching out to Jewish organizations to encourage community leaders to contact their office directly on local matters where they could be of assistance.

She argued that her emphasis on direct community outreach, rather than solely engaging with “other federal agencies that talk to each other all day long,” marked a shift in approach.

“They’re acronyms,” she said of those agencies. “I don’t want to look in anymore. I want to look out,” Pirro said. “I want the people on the outside to know that there’s someone on the inside that they have access to, that they can speak with, that they can go back into the community and say, ‘She’s taking a strong stand. She’s going to prosecute these cases. She feels strongly about them, and if you’re not sure, go talk to her.’”

Since taking over the role, Pirro has been connecting with D.C. leaders and other relevant stakeholders involved in efforts to address crime, domestic violence and antisemitism. 

Pirro said she needed to tread carefully, in light of her ongoing confirmation proceedings, on the subject of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic mayoral primary in New York. She argued that his plans would be “a disaster for business, a disaster for crime victims … a disaster for quality of life in New York.”

She argued that cutting the New York Police Department  or trying to replace them with social services and mental health workers, as Mamdani has advocated for, would send the city in the wrong direction and make it more difficult to build business and community.

“When you see other Democrats joining, you say to yourself, it’s about power,” Pirro said. “And that’s why we’ve got Donald Trump in, because people heard him loud and clear — they want to be safe, and if they’re safe, then they can think about, you know, having a business, you know, making sure that maybe one day they can take a vacation, and, you know, their families can survive.”

Democrats, highlighting that Pirro is a longtime friend and ally of the president, have argued that she can’t be trusted to uphold the rule of law or the Constitution when they conflict with Trump’s agenda and desires.

Pirro said she’s had a positive working relationship with Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and that she intends to work with city officials regardless of political differences. Still, she criticized the D.C. City Council for its approach to criminal justice issues. 

“My relationship with Muriel Bowser is good. I want to work with her. That’s the only way to make the city safe again. I think that the chief of police, Pamela Smith, is great. The mayor has a similar agenda. I think the mayor believes that D.C. needs to be safe,” Pirro explained.“I think we’ve got a city council that’s out of control, that is so defense oriented. They’re totally tolerant of criminals.”

While Pirro said that securing convictions in the Democratic stronghold was a tall task, she said she was undeterred. 

“We are in the center of the nation where laws are passed on a regular basis, and yet the enforcement of those laws is a very difficult thing to push in some areas,” Pirro said. “I mean, in the end, if we don’t have the determination and if we don’t have the will, then nothing happens, because there is a system that is geared toward the defendant.”

“I’m not going to worry about whether or not they’re liberal judges. I’m not going to worry about whether or not you know, juries in Washington are very defense oriented, and my staff won’t either,” Pirro said. “They know that it’s a hard fight in the district, but that’s our job, and you know what? That’s why I’m here. It’s a challenge, and it’s worth it.”

Pressed about the slow response by municipalities like D.C. to anti-Israel protest encampments on university campuses, and if the decision by city leaders to act in some cases but not in others was an indication that changes could be made in the nation’s capital, Pirro concurred. 

“All law is a matter of will, it’s all about enforcement,” Pirro said, adding that a longtime concern for her has been a lack of consideration for and rights of crime victims in the justice system.

“We are in the center of the nation where laws are passed on a regular basis, and yet the enforcement of those laws is a very difficult thing to push in some areas,” Pirro said. “I mean, in the end, if we don’t have the determination and if we don’t have the will, then nothing happens, because there is a system that is geared toward the defendant.”

Pirro said that the D.C. attorney’s office is “neglected” and understaffed — relying on contractors — and in need of additional full-time staff and resources. 

“I want more people, and I will get more people,” Pirro said. “I’m hiring people who want to fight the good fight and [are] competent.”

Trump, a longtime ally, has been “very gracious” in allowing her to hire more staff, Pirro said. She said she’d also spoken to senators about the resource crunch and they’ve been “very receptive, very interested in making D.C. safe.” She described the recent shooting of a congressional intern in the district as helping to motivate concern and interest from lawmakers.

Despite the lack of staff, Pirro lavished praise on the prosecutors in her office.

“What I’m most proud of in this office is the level of prosecutors and the level of talent. These are serious, well prepared, competent, aggressive prosecutors who are in a city that is not necessarily victim oriented. So we fight the good fight every day here. We fight it on behalf of many, many different segments of the community, whether it’s seniors, whether it’s just innocent victims, whether it’s people of the Jewish faith, whether it’s antisemitism, hate crimes of any type,” she said. 

Antisemitic violence struck at the heart of the nation’s capital on Wednesday evening when an assailant shot and killed two Israeli embassy employees outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum for young diplomats and Jewish professionals hosted by the American Jewish Committee.

“Two staff members of the Israeli embassy were shot this evening at close range while attending a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC,” embassy spokesperson Tal Naim Cohen said in a statement. “We have full faith in law enforcement authorities on both the local and federal levels to apprehend the shooter and protect Israel’s representatives and Jewish communities throughout the United States.”

Officials said there was no ongoing threat to public safety and that a suspect had been arrested.

“American Jewish Committee (AJC) can confirm that we hosted an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. this evening,” AJC CEO Ted Deutch said in a statement. “We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue. At this moment, as we await more information from the police about exactly what transpired, our attention and our hearts are solely with those who were harmed and their families.”

President Donald Trump said in a statement, “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”

D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said that a man and woman were killed in the incident. Israeli Ambassador Michael Leiter said that the two victims were a young couple and embassy employees who were planning to get engaged next week in Jerusalem — the man purchased a ring earlier this week.

Eyewitness Paige Siegel, who was a guest at the event, told Jewish Insider that she heard two sets of multiple shots ring out, and then an individual, who police have since identified as suspected shooter Elias Rodriguez, entered the building appearing disoriented and panicked, seconds after the shooting ended. She said security allowed the man in, as well as two other women separately.

Siegel said she spoke to the man, asking him if he had been shot. He appeared panicked and was mumbling and repeatedly told bystanders to call the police. Siegel said that she felt the man was suspicious.

JoJo Drake Kalin, a member of AJC’s DC Young Professional Board and an organizer of the event, also told JI the man appeared disheveled and out of breath when he entered the building. Kalin assumed he had been a bystander to the shooting who needed assistance and she handed him a glass of water.

Siegel said that the man was sitting in the building in a state of distress for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, and she and a friend engaged him in conversation, informing him that he was in the Jewish museum.

After Siegel said that, she said the man started screaming, “I did it, I did it. Free Palestine. I did it for Gaza,” and opened a backpack, withdrawing a red Keffiyeh. She said that an officer, who had already arrived, detained the man and took him outside. She said that she subsequently saw security footage of Rodriguez shooting the female and identified the shooter as the same individual. Kalin said that some attendees stayed for several hours at the museum into the night to be debriefed by police.

A short video obtained by JI showed an individual in the lobby of the museum chanting “Free, free Palestine” being detained by police and removed from the building.

A video obtained by Jewish Insider shows the suspected shooter, identified by police as Elias Rodriguez, in the lobby of the Capital Jewish Museum chanting “free, free Palestine” as he is detained by police and removed from the building.

Full story: https://t.co/ZGZBj9agQx pic.twitter.com/zZUbTvovFm

— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) May 22, 2025

Smith said in a press conference that the suspect, Rodriguez, a 30-year-old from Chicago, opened fire on a group of four outside the museum, and then entered the building and was detained by event security. Smith said that Rodriguez, once in custody, implied that he carried out the shooting and chanted “free, free Palestine.”

Smith said Rodriguez had been pacing outside the event before the altercation.

Leiter said that he had spoken to President Donald Trump, who vowed that the administration would do everything it can to fight antisemitism and demonization and delegitimization of Israel.

“We’ll stand together tall and firm and confront this moral depravity without fear,” Leiter said.

Smith said that police would coordinate with local Jewish organizations to ensure sufficient security. She said police had not received any intelligence warning of the attack.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “we will not tolerate antisemitism,” and said the city would continue to assist Jewish organizations with security grants.

FBI officials and Attorney General Pam Bondi and interim U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro joined the response alongside D.C. police.

“We are a resilient people. The people of Israel are a resilient people. The people of the United States of America are a resilient people. Together, we won’t be afraid. Together we will stand and overcome moral depravity of people who think they’re going to achieve political gains through murder,” Leiter said. 

According to an invitation to the event viewed by JI, the event planned to discuss efforts to respond to humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa, including in Gaza.

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, described the shooting as a “depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told JI, “I’ve been informed of the tragic shooting that occurred outside of the Capitol Jewish Museum tonight in Washington D.C. We are monitoring the situation as more details become known and lifting up the victim’s families in our prayers.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a post, “This sickening shooting seems to be another horrific instance of antisemitism which as we know is all too rampant in our society.”

Richard Priem, the CEO of the Community Security Service, told eJewishPhilanthropy that there are still “so many unknowns” about the shooting, namely if it was a sophisticated attack specifically targeting Israeli Embassy staff or an attack more generally against the Jewish event itself. In any case, the organization called for “increased situational awareness” at Jewish institutions going forward, particularly ahead of Shabbat.

“Anytime there’s an attack, certain people get activated and think, ’Now’s the time,’” Priem said. “But we don’t know yet if there might be a direct correlated threat.”

eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross contributed reporting