Assailant kills one, leaves second in critical condition
Two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot outside a metro station in Washington, D.C. on November 26. The shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was a Muslim Afghan asylum seeker living in Bellingham, Washington.
Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed, while Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition. Lakanwal killed Beckstrom with a handgun before picking up her service weapon and shooting Wolfe while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” He was shot four times by National Guardsmen and arrested by police.
Lakanwal had been allowed entry into the United States under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program designed to allow Afghan refugees who had assisted U.S. armed forces to leave Afghanistan during the 2021 withdrawal. During the war, Lakanwal was part of a CIA-funded elite Afghan death squad, known as “Zero Unit,” assigned to assassinate Taliban leaders.
President Donald Trump, shortly after the shooting, posted on Truth Social that “the animal that shot two National Guardsmen … will pay a very steep price.” Former judge Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, stated that she would ask for the death penalty in the pending case against Lakanwal.
Lakanwal pleaded not guilty in a hearing on December 2 and his trial is set to begin on January 14. Washington, D.C. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond denied his request for bail.
The National Guard had been deployed to Washington, D.C. as part of an effort by President Trump to clamp down on crime in several major cities. Since the deployment in the capital, violent crime has decreased by over 60 percent, with weeklong stretches of no murders in a city once known for near-daily killings.
The day before the Washington shooting, another Afghan migrant, Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas for threatening to build a bomb and kill Americans. U.S Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould, ND Law ’12, said, “We have zero tolerance for violence and threats of violence to kill American citizens and others like those allegedly made by this individual.” Alokozay now faces federal charges.
Following the shooting, President Trump stated on Truth Social that he would permanently pause all migration from third-world countries, saying he would “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States.” He added, “Only reverse migration can fully cure this situation.” Posting on Thanksgiving Day, Trump said, “The refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in America.” The president also later posted, “We have to get the bad people out of our country, and fast.”
The Trump administration released a memo on December 2 halting all immigration applications from 19 third-world countries, including Afghanistan and Somalia. The administration had clamped down on immigration from a set of 12 other nations in June.
A junior business analytics major in Keough Hall expressed indignation that the two Afghans had entered the U.S. Speaking under the condition of anonymity, which he stated was out of fear of backlash from his professors, he told the Rover, “I don’t know who allowed a CIA killing machine to just go live in Washington state.” He added, “I wish DOGE would have gotten whoever did that.”
Sophomore Bernardo Castellanos questioned the policy that allowed the Afghans into the U.S. “As someone who came to this country legally from Honduras to study, I’m very skeptical of loose immigration policy when it leads to really bad incidents like this,” Castellanos said.
A student from Kansas City studying applied math and business analytics, speaking under the condition of anonymity for similar reasons, was also taken aback by Biden’s asylum policy: “The execution of the plan was deeply flawed. Maybe monitoring the refugees closer after arrival to ensure they are here for the correct reasons would have prevented this.”
Junior Ben Jones said, “I don’t think any of them should have been let in, especially due to the complete inadequacy of the Biden administration with the vetting.” Jones agreed with President Trump’s immigration changes, telling the Rover, “I don’t believe that letting endless Afghans into the U.S. will increase the country’s human capital and productivity as a nation.”
On the other hand, the Notre Dame Student Coalition for Immigration Advocacy (SCIA) club defended increased migration, telling the Rover, “People from Afghanistan and Somalia come to the United States because their lives were in danger, not because they are expected to reshape their identities to fit ours.” SCIA also added that no immigrant has the responsibility to “assimilate into American culture or society.”
“Guided by our Catholic values,” SCIA concluded, “We stand with those seeking refuge and remain committed to welcoming people.”
Sam Marchand is a junior studying political science and finance from Beaumont, Texas. He squanders much of his spare time by reading the Current Events section of Wikipedia preparing arguments for ND Speech & Debate, of which he serves as head yapper. You can send him goulash recommendations while he’s in Budapest at smarcha3@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Edited by the Irish Rover
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