Three of Washington’s top Democrats called Wednesday for an independent investigation into the Sept. 6 killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, a Turkish American activist from West Seattle.
Israel acknowledged this week it was “highly likely” their forces in the West Bank killed Eygi, a University of Washington alumna who had been protesting Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Pramila Jayapal released a letter to President Joe Biden’s administration Wednesday, calling for “an immediate, transparent, credible, and thorough independent U.S. investigation.”
In a separate letter, Sen. Maria Cantwell also called for an investigation.
“All democracies must have accountability, including for members of the government and military, and follow the rule of law,” Cantwell’s letter read.
Both letters cited Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement that the killing was “unprovoked and unjustified.”
Murray and Jayapal demanded “the evidence found and rationale for how findings were determined be provided to the family in a written report.”
A video-based investigation published Wednesday by The Washington Post suggested Eygi was shot in the head “more than a half-hour after the height of confrontations in Beita, and some 20 minutes after protesters had moved down the main road,” over 200 yards from Israeli forces.
“Our hearts are with her family, friends, colleagues, and community, all of whom are devastated by her killing and deserve to know their government has done everything it can to fully understand what led to her killing, pursue accountability for those involved, and seek to ensure this does not happen again,” read the letter from Murray and Jayapal.
The pair pointed to “the pattern we witnessed of American citizens being killed without accountability” in the West Bank, naming Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, 17; Mohammed Khdour, 17; Omar Assad, 78; Shireen Abu Akleh; and Rachel Corrie, 23, a college student from Olympia killed while protesting the demolition of homes in Gaza in 2003.
Their letter gave the Biden administration a deadline of Sept. 24 for a response with key information.
Meanwhile, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris released statements Wednesday on Eygi’s death.
“Israel’s preliminary investigation indicated it was the result of a tragic error for which the IDF is responsible,” Harris’ statement read. “We will continue to press the government of Israel for answers and for continued access to the findings of the investigation so we can have confidence in the results. There must be full accountability.”
