There was nothing remarkable about the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It was just a day like any other in the nation’s capital – until about 2:15 in the afternoon, when a lone gunman ambushed two members of the National Guard with a .357 revolver. Both soldiers were injured, as was the shooter, who, it was later revealed, was an Afghan national who had previously worked overseas with the CIA. One of those soldiers has since died. But while the shooting turned an otherwise nice day into tragedy, the shots will echo well outside the Swamp thanks to the Trump administration’s reaction.
The Shooter – Who Is He?
There were more questions than answers on Wednesday, as one might expect after such an event. But updates dribbled out over Thanksgiving Day and into the night. Twenty-nine-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the shooting, was an Afghan national who had been paroled to the US on September 8, 2021, under a Biden administration program called Operation Allies Welcome. The idea seems noble enough: Those who assisted US operations in the war on terror earned a place stateside. And the suspect had worked with American troops and the CIA in Afghanistan.
An agency spokesperson confirmed the shooter’s prior service on Thursday. Lakanwal was reportedly part of the NDS-03 unit, a covert paramilitary unit under the special forces directorate of the Afghan Intelligence Services. They were trained and backed by the CIA and worked closely with US and British forces.
His motive remains unclear, but a few details have emerged that may provide some clues. CBS reported that a former Afghan commando claimed Lakanwal had been deeply troubled by the death of a close friend in 2024, who had also served but had failed to gain asylum in the US.
Sarah Adams, co-author of Benghazi: Know Thy Enemy and a former CIA intelligence officer, provided a few more clues Thursday on X. She explained that, after the shooting, ISIS praised Lakanwal’s actions. His half-brother, it seems, had been a recruiter for the Islamic State and had previously worked with the Taliban as well. He was killed in a targeted strike in 2022, according to Adams, who worked with the agency as a targeter, an officer who identifies people, organizations, and relationships that pose a threat to national security and develops strategies to disrupt said threats.
Lakanwal was shot by another member of the National Guard, though his wounds were reportedly not life-threatening. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her injuries on Thursday, while 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition. Initially, Lakanwal was charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said, however, that if either of the soldiers died, the charges would be upgraded – and Attorney General Pam Bondi later told Fox News that prosecutors would seek the death penalty.
International Ramifications on Immigration
Because Lakanwal was a US ally and covert operative, it’s hard to imagine anyone being vetted more thoroughly than he would have been prior to his service in Afghanistan. Then again, before entering the US and gaining asylum, he would have been investigated yet again.
So he went through the process, but the process didn’t work. And now it’s being reconsidered. The Trump administration said on Thursday that it would re-examine green cards linked to nearly two dozen countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Additionally, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced it is ending the “processing of all immigration requests related to Afghan nationals … indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.” That’s effective immediately, according to the announcement.
Republican lawmakers are now calling for more immigration restrictions, as well, with some saying all Afghan nationals – or even all Muslim immigrants regardless of where they’re from – should be deported. Taken together, it’s indicative of a general anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant sentiment, a ramification of this shooting that will reverberate around the world, potentially for many years, as US immigration policy shifts.
National Guard in the Nation’s Capital
Sergeant Wolfe and Specialist Beckstrom are both members of the West Virginia National Guard and were a part of the 2,200 or so troops serving in the capital after President Trump’s crackdown on crime in August. Now, the administration will send in more troops.
“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told the press on Wednesday after the shooting. An additional 500 troops will reportedly be deployed to the capital, though it’s unclear as yet where they’ll come from or when they’ll arrive.
This also raises questions about the future of President Trump’s use of the National Guard as a domestic crime-fighting force. Last week, a federal judge blocked the deployment to DC, but another judge put that order on hold until December 11. Meanwhile, the Tennessee National Guard remains in Memphis under federal direction. One must wonder how the targeted attack of soldiers on American soil will affect the legal battles.
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