US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, may have been radicalized after entering the United States, AFP reported.
Lakanwal, 29, faces a first-degree murder charge in the November 26 attack that killed 20-year-old guardsman Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounded another.
“I will say we believe he was radicalized since he’s been here in this country,” Noem told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
In another interview on ABC’s This Week, she added, “We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we’re going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members, who talk to them.”
Lakanwal entered the US in 2021 as part of the Biden administration’s massive Afghan airlift during the military withdrawal and Taliban takeover. A resident of Washington state, he allegedly drove cross-country to carry out the shooting just blocks from the White House, shocking Americans on the eve of Thanksgiving.
Officials from President Donald Trump’s administration, which reportedly granted Lakanwal asylum in April 2025, blamed Biden’s airlift for lax vetting. Noem said Lakanwal was “maybe vetted” but “not done well.”
In remarks he published on Wednesday night, hours after the shooting, Trump described the incident as “an act of terror”.
“My great fellow Americans, earlier today on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, two members of the National Guard serving in Washington, DC were shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House…this heinous assault was an act of evil, an act of hatred, and an act of terror,” said Trump.
“This attack,” the President continued, “underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation. The last administration let in 20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners from all over the world from places that you don't want to even know about. No country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival.”
“We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country. If they can't love our country, we don't want them,” stated Trump.