US Homeland Security: Afghan Suspect Radicalized after Arrival

DID Press: US Secretary of Homeland Security said that Rahmanullah Lakanwal, Afghan migrant accused of shooting two National Guard soldiers near the White House, became radicalized after entering the United States, and that investigations into any potential accomplices are ongoing.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Sunday that preliminary assessments indicate Lakanwal — a 29-year-old Afghan migrant and the main suspect in last week’s shooting of National Guard members in Washington — was “radicalized” after arriving in the US, a process that she said developed in the environment in which he had been living.

According to Noem, the investigation remains active, and anyone found to have played a role in the incident will face prosecution. She stressed that security officials are gathering information from the suspect’s family, acquaintances, and others who had been in contact with him.

U.S. officials have not yet determined a clear motive for the attack. However, Noem said investigators have received new information from people who knew Lakanwal, and those leads are now being reviewed. “Anyone who has withheld information or was involved in this attack will be identified and brought to justice,” she warned.

Meanwhile, an exclusive report by the Associated Press indicates that Lakanwal had struggled in recent years with severe mental-health challenges, unemployment, and prolonged social isolation. A community advocate familiar with him reportedly sent several warning emails last year to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, expressing concern that Lakanwal might be at risk of suicide.

The shooting took place on Wednesday, November 26, just a few blocks from the White House, targeting two National Guard soldiers. U.S. security forces quickly apprehended Lakanwal at the scene.

Reports indicate that he entered the US in 2021 through the evacuation program for Afghan partners, and according to Reuters, he was granted asylum in April under the Trump administration.