The Department of Homeland Security named the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who entered the U.S. under a Biden-era resettlement policy after the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal and was granted asylum earlier this year, according to CNN.
The shooting occurred near the Farragut West metro station in downtown Washington, close to the White House. The two Guard members were in critical condition. A law enforcement official said Lakanwal was also shot, but his injuries were not life-threatening.
Trump said the attack showed the dangers of what he called Biden’s lax vetting of Afghan migrants, describing Afghanistan as “a hellhole on earth” and vowing that the “animal who perpetrated this atrocity” would pay “the steepest possible price.”
“We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. should remove any foreign national “who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country.”
Soon after his remarks, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it had indefinitely halted processing of all immigration requests related to Afghan nationals.
National Guard troops have been deployed across Washington since August, when the Trump administration declared a “crime emergency.” About 2,375 Guard members are currently activated, and Trump said he had ordered an additional 500 to the capital after the shooting.
A U.S. district judge has ruled the deployment likely unlawful and ordered it halted next month, a decision the administration is appealing.
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Source: PAP, The Guardian, CNN