Noem Provides New Info On Afghan Suspect in Guard Shootings

The Biden-era Afghan resettlement program is under renewed scrutiny after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed Sunday that the Afghan national accused of gunning down National Guard members near the White House was likely radicalized after arriving in the United States.

Law enforcement identified 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal as the shooter responsible for last Wednesday’s attack in Washington, D.C., which left one Guardsman dead and another fighting for his life, Fox News reported.

“We believe he was radicalized since he’s been here in this country,” Noem told NBC News. “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.”

She added that federal authorities have received “some participation” from individuals who knew the suspect.

Lakanwal entered the United States legally in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome — the mass Afghan evacuation initiative launched by the Biden administration following the Taliban’s takeover. Although asylum was formally granted in April during President Donald Trump’s second term, Noem stressed that the vetting process was entirely carried out under President Joe Biden, whose team oversaw the original intake.

“When this abandonment of Afghanistan happened, the Biden administration put people on airplanes [and] brought them to the United States without vetting them,” she said. “They brought them into our country and then said they would vet them afterward.”

Noem was blunt about Biden’s handling of the screening process: “All of that vetting information was collected by Joe Biden’s administration. Joe Biden completely did not vet any of these individuals.”

She emphasized that President Trump has since implemented far more rigorous screening requirements — including social-media checks and deeper reviews of the networks and associates of incoming foreign nationals.

The shooting, which occurred on Thanksgiving Eve, prompted President Trump to toughen immigration controls even further. He announced new restrictions on entry from what he described as “Third World Countries,” part of an aggressive national-security overhaul in response to the attack.

“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.

The sense of urgency has only intensified after another Afghan migrant was arrested for making terroristic threats in the days following the attack.

Meanwhile, political fallout spread to Michigan after a video resurfaced showing Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) refusing to condemn “Death To America” chants shouted at a pro-Palestinian rally in her district last year.

On April 5, 2024, demonstrators gathered in Dearborn for the International Day of Al-Quds — an annual anti-Israel rally held on the final Friday of Ramadan. The protest, held outside the Henry Ford Centennial Library, featured chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel,” The Detroit News reported.

Inside the Capitol this week, Fox Business correspondent Hillary Vaughn confronted Tlaib:

“At a rally in your district people were chanting ‘death to America,’ do you condemn?” Vaughn asked.

Tlaib responded, “I do not talk to Fox News.”

When Vaughn pressed again, Tlaib claimed, “I don’t talk to people that use racist tropes.”

She later added, “Using racist tropes towards my community is what Fox News is about and I don’t talk to Fox News.”

Vaughn followed up: “Is chanting death to America racist?”

Tlaib replied, “I’m talking about your guys’ racist tropes. You guys know exactly what you do. I know you’re Islamophobic.”

Her refusal to denounce the chant — even as National Guard members lie dead and wounded — has only fueled conservative criticism of the far-left “Squad,” whose rhetoric frequently intersects with anti-U.S. demonstrations and pro-Hamas activism.