SCOOP: Democratic congressman apologizes for mourning wrong victims of anti-Semitic terror attack, constituents criticize his "performative sympathy"

THE LOWDOWN:

• Rep. Danny Davis (D., Ill.) apologized to a constituent for wrongly identifying the names of two Israeli diplomats who were murdered in Washington, D.C., blaming his staff for the error while simultaneously “All Lives Matter”-ing the terrorist attack in a way that left constituents lamenting what they called Davis’s “performative sympathy.”

• The Washington Reporter previously reported how Davis’s office mourned the murders of “David Asher, an Israeli Embassy staff member, and Rachel Klein, a devoted museum volunteer.” The victims’ names were actually Yaron Lishinsky and Sarah Milgrim, as Davis noted in his apology letter.

• Several of Davis’s constituents told the Reporter that, while they appreciated the initial sentiment behind Davis’s apology, they were disappointed at how Davis linked the anti-Semitic hate crime to racism and Islamophobia, neither of which played a role in the double murder.

• “Let me be clear: this correction does not change our core message—hate has no place in our society,” Davis continued in his apology. “Whether it takes the form of antisemitism, anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, or any form of violence, we must condemn it together.”

Rep. Danny Davis (D., Ill.) apologized to a constituent for wrongly identifying the names of two Israeli diplomats who were murdered in Washington, D.C., blaming his staff for the error while simultaneously “All Lives Matter”-ing the terrorist attack in a way that left constituents lamenting what they called Davis’s “performative sympathy.”

The Washington Reporter previously reported how Davis’s office mourned the murders of “David Asher, an Israeli Embassy staff member, and Rachel Klein, a devoted museum volunteer.”

The victims’ names were actually Yaron Lishinsky and Sarah Milgrim, as Davis noted in an apology letter to a constituent, obtained exclusively by the Reporter.

“I am writing to issue a formal correction and to clarify details shared in a recent communication regarding the tragic antisemitic shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2025,” Davis wrote.

“The original message from my office incorrectly identified the names of the two victims. I deeply regret this error and extend my sincere apologies to the families of the deceased and to the broader community,” the letter continued.

In Davis’s apology, he explained that “the staff member who prepared the message is currently undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer, which causes fatigue and physical strain.”

“On the same day, they were also rushing to attend the funeral of my long-time staffer's son,” Davis wrote.

Several of Davis’s constituents told the Reporter that, while they appreciated the initial sentiment behind Davis’s apology, they were disappointed at how Davis linked the anti-Semitic hate crime to racism and Islamophobia, neither of which played a role in the double murder.

“Let me be clear: this correction does not change our core message—hate has no place in our society,” Davis continued in his apology. “Whether it takes the form of antisemitism, anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, or any form of violence, we must condemn it together.”

“While I had a small measure of comfort when I saw the subject line of the email (“In Memory of the Victims: A Message from Congressman Danny K. Davis”), that initial feeling quickly changed to both disappointment and shock,” one of Davis’s constituents told the Reporter.

“As I read the email, it incorrectly identified the victims…The names were not only incorrect, and not even close to the names of the actual victims, one of whom, Sarah Milgrim, was also an Israeli Embassy staffer, not a museum volunteer and educator [as Davis had originally claimed],” the constituent said.

“The fact that Davis’s office did not take the time to get these names correct left me with the feeling that this email was a bit of performative sympathy,” the constituent continued.

“Congressman Davis later sent out a correction with the correct names of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. While I appreciated him correcting the record, it was a bit diluted as he also provided what might be viewed as excuses as to how this happened, though he did acknowledge that his office was in the end responsible for the error.”

“Another disappointing aspect of that second email is that it added language about ‘anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, or any form of violence,’ the constituent told the Reporter. “This was disappointing for two reasons. First, none of that language was present in the first email, which begs the question of why it was added to the second email.”

“Second, none of ‘anti-Black racism, Islamophobia’ played a part in the tragic murder of Sarah and Yaron, which, to me, diluted the overall message.”

It is “frustrating that they have to throw in the stuff about ‘anti-Black racism, Islamophobia,’” another of Davis’s constituents told the Reporter.

“I feel like if you said ‘All Lives Matter’ five years ago at the time of Black Lives Matter, you would have been accused of being insensitive and/or not understanding the issues at hand,” the constituent continued.

Davis’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.