Homeland Security Secretary says Afghan suspect in National Guard shooting may have been radicalised after entering the US, raising vetting concerns
WASHINGTON: An Afghan suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members was likely radicalised after entering the United States, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, faces a first-degree murder charge for the November 26 attack that killed a 20-year-old guardsman and critically wounded another.
“I will say we believe he was radicalised since he’s been here in this country,” Noem said on NBC‘s “Meet the Press.”
She indicated the radicalisation occurred through connections in his local community during a separate ABC interview.
Lakanwal entered the US in 2021 as part of the massive airlift during the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Washington state resident allegedly drove cross-country to carry out the shooting just blocks from the White House.
Trump administration officials, who reportedly granted Lakanwal asylum in April 2025, have blamed Biden’s administration for inadequate vetting during the airlift.
Noem told ABC that Lakanwal was “maybe vetted” but said the process was “not done well.”
Trump criticised Biden and his officials in a Truth Social post for allowing people to enter “totally unchecked and unvetted.”
Officials revealed Lakanwal had previously served in a CIA-backed Afghan unit fighting the Taliban before coming to the US.
The US government has since suspended visas for all Afghan nationals and frozen all asylum case decisions. – AFP
