The Afghan immigrant suspected of carrying out a terror ambush on two National Guards members in Washington, D.C. Wednesday “should never have been allowed to come here,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29 – accused of shooting West Virginia National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe – was let into the country in 2021 under the Biden-Era Operation Allies Welcome. He applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved in April.
“This Afghan national was paroled in by the Biden Administration,” Ratcliffe said. “Regardless if his asylum was granted or not, this monster would not have been removed because of his parole.”
Follow the latest on the National Guard shooting in Washington, DC:
- Second National Guard member wounded in suspected terror shooting ID’d as Sarah Beckstrom
- Andrew Wolfe ID’d as one of two National Guard members shot in DC
- Alleged DC National Guardsmen shooter was in Afghan army, served alongside US troops: report
- Trump blasts ‘disastrous’ Biden over refugee program that allowed alleged Afghan DC guardsmen shooter into US
“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” the CIA head said. “The Trump Administration is also reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden Administration, which failed to vet these applicants on a massive scale.”
