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Law enforcement has named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, as the suspect in the ambush-style shooting that critically wounded two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House. Officials say Lakanwal entered the United States in September 2021 under the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome program, a fact that must now be squarely examined as this investigation unfolds.
The attack was brazen and targeted: the two Guardsmen were struck while on duty near a metro station, and investigators say the suspect drove across the country from Washington state to carry out the assault. Law enforcement shot the assailant during the confrontation; he was taken into custody and is expected to survive while the victims remain in critical condition.
Reporting also indicates the suspect had previously worked with U.S.-backed forces in Afghanistan, including a unit tied to U.S. intelligence, raising urgent questions about how someone with that background was admitted and settled here. If our own wartime partners or those who fought alongside Americans can slip through inadequate vetting and later threaten our troops on U.S. soil, then the system has failed the men and women who put their lives on the line for this country.
President Trump and his national security team have labeled the shooting an act of terror, ordered additional National Guard troops to Washington, and the Department of Homeland Security has announced a pause on processing Afghan immigration requests while officials review vetting protocols. The pause is the minimum response; Americans deserve a full accounting of who was admitted during the chaotic evacuation and why safeguards failed.
Let there be no mistake: this is the tragic, foreseeable consequence of the Biden administration’s rushed evacuation and resettlement policies in 2021. Conservatives warned at the time that mass parole and expedited admissions without robust, long-term vetting would come back to haunt the American people, and this horrible attack proves those warnings were not alarmism but prudence turned prophetic.
National security must come first. Congress and the Justice Department should open immediate hearings and demand full transparency on every step of the vetting and resettlement process that brought this suspect here, and immigration agencies must soberly reassess any program that prioritizes optics over safety. The indefinite halt to Afghan immigration processing is the right first step while authorities determine how this breach occurred and who else may pose a threat.
We owe the injured Guardsmen and their families more than token statements; we owe them action, accountability, and a government that protects its citizens before pandering to political narratives. If the Biden-era policies created vulnerabilities on our streets and at the gates of power, those policies must be reversed and those responsible held to account.
To every hardworking American watching this unfold, know that conservatives will not flinch from demanding answers and fighting for tougher, smarter border and resettlement controls. Pray for the recovery of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, stand with the National Guard, and insist that Washington put the safety of its people above every other consideration.
