Source: WDAF Fox 4
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Thursday, May 21, marks one year since a Johnson County native and her boyfriend were killed outside Washington D.C.’s Jewish Museum.Former assistant city manager of Kansas City says she was fired after talking to FBI
Sarah Milgrim’s family says they are working hard to keep her memory alive and honor her legacy. Milgrim, 26, attended Shawnee Mission East and the University of Kansas.
Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky both worked at the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. They were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when a man shot and killed the couple.
“It’s a great loss to our family and it’s a great loss to the world,” Sarah’s father Robert Milgrim said.
Federal investigators say it was a hate crime as suspected shooter Elias Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine” as he was arrested.
“The people at the event were not anti-Palestine they were all for a free Palestine and a solution,” Robert said.
As part of Jewish tradition, the family says a daily prayer or Kaddish for the first year after a loved one’s death. In that year Milgrim’s father says they have learned more about her impact including a call Wednesday morning with leaders of the NGO Tech2Peace she worked with in Israel connecting Israelis and Palestinians through technology.
The family has sponsored scholarships at American University, The University of Kansas and Jewish Community Relations Bureau. A book and play have been written about her. A cherry tree now stands as a living memorial to Sarah Milgrim at Porter Park in Prairie Village.Kansas news: Headlines from Wichita, Topeka and around the Sunflower StateSan Diego mosque shooters met online and left writings expressing hate, FBI says
The family has spoken at an Anti-Defamation League conference and Jewish Student Union meeting at Sarah’s high school alma mater hoping to put an end to antisemitism and spare another family the same pain.
“There’s no reason for this the more I think about it the less I understand the reason,” Robert said.
A week after her death Sarah was set to travel to Israel to meet Lischinsky’s family. He planned to ask her to marry him. Instead, Sarah’s parents traveled to Israel to meet Lischinsky’s family. They say they’ve grown close, tied through the tragic loss. The Lischinsky family plan to come here to Kansas City this summer for Sarah’s headstone dedication.