WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has condemned the “monstrous ambush” on two National Guard members in Washington, DC, saying the attack highlights the country’s most serious national security threat, the rise in immigration during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
Speaking from Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said the Department of Homeland Security had informed him that the suspect in custody is an Afghan national who originally entered the United States under the Biden administration.
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“He came here on one of those widely discussed flights in September 2021,” Trump said, adding that the man’s stay in the U.S. was later extended under a law signed by President Biden. Trump sharply criticized Biden, calling his presidency “disastrous.”
“This attack shows exactly what our biggest security challenge is,” Trump added. “The previous administration allowed millions of people from around the world into the country without proper vetting.”
Trump vowed to re-examine the cases of all Afghans who entered the U.S. under Biden-era policies and said he would take whatever actions were necessary to remove anyone who should not be in the country. “If someone can’t love America, then they shouldn’t be here,” he said.
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Authorities identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who arrived through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that made roughly 90,000 Afghans eligible for Special Immigrant Visas and provided resettlement assistance. Bellingham, Washington, where Lakanwal lived, was among the cities designated for Afghan refugee placement, with about 800 arrivals in 2022, according to the Immigrant & Refugee Health Alliance.
Sources said that the 29-year-old had overstayed his visa and was in the country illegally when he allegedly ambushed two West Virginia National Guard members on patrol Wednesday afternoon in what investigators are examining as a possible terror attack.
Law enforcement officials said Lakanwal appeared to be lying in wait near the Farragut West Metro Station, just a few blocks from the White House, before opening fire, shooting one female soldier in the chest and then in the head. He then allegedly turned his weapon on the second guard before a third soldier nearby intervened and subdued him.
The two wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital in critical condition. Trump did not provide any updates on their current state.
Officials say the attacker acted alone. He was taken into custody after being transported from the scene almost unclothed in an ambulance.
