Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Sunday that the suspect within the shooting of two National Guard members close to the White Home final week was “radicalized since he is been right here on this nation” after arriving in Sept. 2021 from Afghanistan.
Officers have mentioned the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan nationwide, entered the U.S. as a part of Operation Allies Welcome after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Lakanwal was granted asylum by the Trump administration earlier this yr. The CIA mentioned Thursday that Lakanwal beforehand labored with the U.S. authorities, together with the CIA, as a member of a companion power in Kandahar that led to 2021 following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Since Wednesday’s capturing, the Trump administration has ordered all asylum applications paused, in response to an inner directive obtained by CBS Information and two sources acquainted with the order.
“We do imagine it was by way of connections in his house group and state, and we’ll proceed to speak to those that interacted with him,” Noem mentioned Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” She offered no additional particulars.
On Wednesday, a gunman opened fireplace close to the White Home on Nationwide Guard members stationed in Washington. One of many victims, Military Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died Thursday, whereas the opposite, Air Pressure Workers Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, stays hospitalized.
The suspect was shot by a Nationwide Guard member and can also be hospitalized. U.S. Legal professional Jeanine Pirro mentioned he faces homicide costs.
On ABC’s “This Week,” Noem urged the suspect was not totally vetted earlier than he got here to the U.S.
“What they did was verify a number of names and some information factors,” Noem alleged. “However what President Trump has put in place now for vetting is biometric data, checking social media platforms, communications, contacts, matching updates of service that was by no means carried out underneath Joe Biden. He did not try this. In truth, he introduced individuals to this nation after which simply mentioned, properly, we’ll vet them later.”
The White Home has blamed insurance policies of former President Joe Biden’s administration for permitting Lakanwal to enter the U.S. Samantha Vinograd, a prime counterterrorism official within the Obama administration and a present CBS Information contributor, mentioned Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that there aren’t any indications the “horrific tragedy was a results of a vetting failure.”
“Let’s be clear on what the vetting system is and it is not,” Vinograd mentioned. “The vetting system is a system by which a person’s identifiers — their biographic data, iris scans, fingerprints, facial photographs — are run in opposition to information units of details about people with ties to terrorism and legal historical past. The vetting system is just not predicative of whether or not a person with no derogatory data is or is just not going to develop into violent.”
Vinograd mentioned each Afghan refugee underwent vetting abroad earlier than being cleared to enter the U.S., after which they have been vetted once more by the Biden administration. The suspect in final week’s capturing additionally underwent the “most complete vetting” underneath the Trump administration to obtain asylum, Vinograd added.
Because the capturing, the White Home has put in place quite a few restrictive immigration insurance policies. On Thursday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director ordered, at Mr. Trump’s path, a “full scale, rigorous reexamination” of inexperienced card circumstances involving nationals affected by a presidential proclamation that totally or partially suspended journey and immigration from 19 nations.
