A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
We're now going to hear about more possible motives for the man suspected of killing Israeli Embassy aides in Washington. Now, among the details still emerging about the suspect is that he once belonged to a far-left political group. Let's bring in NPR's domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef. So what's known so far about the suspect's political beliefs?
ODETTE YOUSEF, BYLINE: Well, A, someone with the same name as the suspect was quoted back in October of 2017 in a publication put out by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and it quoted this person as being from that group. Since the killings, the PSL issued a statement disavowing the attack and saying that Elias Rodriguez's association with the group ended in 2017. I think, you know, we may learn more about this as the case develops. But also, yesterday morning, I went to the building where the suspect is believed to live. It's a brick multiunit on a leafy residential side street in northwest Chicago. The windows of the unit believed to be his had a lot of signs up, three of them relating to the conflict in Gaza, one that said ceasefire now, another that included the message free Palestine. There were also signs for local politicians on the left, including a Democratic socialist.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, we know that political violence has been on the rise in the United States, but how much of that are we seeing from the far left?
YOUSEF: Look, the data show that the far right has been responsible for most of the lethal political violence we've seen in the last four decades. But I spoke with Colin Clarke about this. He says he's been warning about a rise in far-left militancy for years and says it's a reaction to the rise in far-right extremist activity. He's with The Soufan Group.
COLIN CLARKE: Only really since October 7, the war in Gaza and the Israeli military campaign in the Middle East, have we seen this kind of uptick in what I would call far-left militancy, far-left extremism surrounding the issue of Gaza - and not just, you know, pro-Palestinian but actually pro-Hamas, pro-Hezbollah, pro actual terrorist organizations.
YOUSEF: And Clarke, you know, says he's talking about a very small number of people doing that. But still, you know, he points to college campuses where there were some people waving flags of those organizations or voicing solidarity explicitly with them. Historically, far-left violence has mostly been property damage, A. You know, we've seen this with the vandalism of Tesla vehicles and some of the riots during the summer of the racial justice protests in 2020. Lately, though, there have also been high-profile events like attempted assassinations of Trump, the killing of a health care CEO, where the facts are muddy but nonetheless there is a perception that these were leftist actors. This attack, though, may be a clear case of lethality from the left.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, OK. That's terrible to hear. What happens now? Where did things go from here?
YOUSEF: You know, Clarke says this should prompt some soul-searching on the left. It's tough to claim a moral high ground when someone commits an act like this. And, you know, you heard from Jennifer just now that some of the details in court documents paint a really chilling picture of these particular killings. I think it'll be important to watch also how this develops both in the political arena and in public discourse. Will this suspect be lionized by parts of the public? And politically, there are concerns that the government may use this as a reason for significant countermeasures aimed at suppressing free speech and even pushing the boundaries of labeling certain groups domestic terrorists.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, that's NPR's Odette Yousef. Odette, thanks a lot.
YOUSEF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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