The madman accused of shooting two National Guard troops in Washington, DC, last week was likely “radicalized” after he came to the US, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem revealed.
Noem also vowed that the Trump administration will carry out mass deportations of immigrants from “third world” countries in response to the shooting.
She added the asylum process will only be reopened after officials clear up the backlog of cases.
Kristi Noem believes the suspect in the National Guard shooting could have been radicalized in the United States. ABC News
“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. “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.”
“So far we’ve had some participation,” she added. “We will never allow this to continue to happen in our country, allow individuals who came to our country that were unvetted by Joe Biden, allowed to run free and loose.”
Noem stressed that migrants with pending asylum claims aren’t off limits for deportation.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who is the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC. US Attorney’s Office/AFP via Getty Images
“If they shouldn’t be, absolutely. Yes. We are going to go through every single person that has a pending asylum claim, has an asylum claim here in this country,” she declared, when asked if she would deport immigrants with current asylum cases.
“[We will] ensure that they deserve to still be in this country, that they still have the purposes for which they claimed that asylum in place.”
“And that they’re not here being radicalized, and perpetuating dangerous criminal activity against our Americans.”
Afghan Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who previously worked on one of the CIA’s “Zero Units” in Afghanistan before being allowed into the US in 2021, was arrested last Wednesday for the shooting rampage, which killed one National Guard solider and critically wounded another.
Lakanwal, who is expected to recover from his injuries after a National Guard member shot him, is facing one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
Authorities have provided few details about his alleged motivations, though Attorney General Pam Bondi teased that information is coming.
“He was radicalized. You’re going to hear a lot more about that,” Bondi told “Fox News Sunday.”
“These young men and women in the Guard, they want to help our country. They want to be here. They are patriots,” she added. “Yet they will not be attacked by a radical Islamic terrorist who screams by reports ‘Allah Akbar’ before shooting two of our Guard members and almost killing more.”
Lakanwal spotted at the scene of the shooting. Obtained by the Wall Street Journal
Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries on Thursday and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalized with critical injuries from the attack.
After the devastating Thanksgiving eve attack, Trump vowed to “permanently pause” migration from all “Third World Countries.”
“The President is absolutely determined to stop all processes at this point in time from third-world countries until we can have a thorough opportunity to go through these individuals,” Noem said Sunday.
Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries. US Attorney’s Office/AFP via Getty Images
“These countries that people have been traveling to our shores from for so many years under the Biden administration, their governments didn’t tell us who they were. We don’t have a proper vetting process,” she added. “We’re not going to allow this to continue.”
The pause is the latest in Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration.
Shortly after getting sworn into his second term, Trump halted Afghan refugee resettlement in the US before later restricting travel from the war-torn country.
Last week, the Trump administration vowed to undertake a “rigorous reexamination” of every green card holder from countries “of concern,” seemingly referring to the 19 nations mentioned in Trump’s June executive order to safeguard Americans from foreign terrorists.
Lakanwal had applied for asylum in December 2024 and later got approval under the Trump administration in April of this year.
“The vetting process happens when the person comes into the country. And Joe Biden completely did not vet any of these individuals, did not vet this individual,” Noem said of Lakanwal’s vetting. “That’s the Biden administration’s responsibility,” Noem said Sunday.
Pressed about when Trump’s pause will end, the Secretary of Homeland Security said the asylum process will reopen after the administration finishes going through the backlog of 1.5 million asylum cases.
“It’ll start when we know that we have dealt with the backlog that we have,” she said. “People who maybe, as you would say, could’ve credibly claimed this, they weren’t even getting processed for years and years, because they were allowing it to be abused in such a way.”