Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday the Biden administration is squarely to blame for any vetting failures that occurred in resettling the Afghan refugee accused of shooting two National Guardsmen in Washington before Thanksgiving.
Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, resettled in the U.S. as part of Operation Allies Welcome under President Joseph R. Biden in 2021 but received asylum in April, months after President Trump took office.
“All the information that was gathered under the Biden administration,” Ms. Noem told ABC’s “This Week.” “That information was provided by them, and the responsibility lies with them.”
Ms. Noem said the Trump team took steps to fix holes in the vetting process under the Biden administration, including how they review military records.
“That has been completely fixed,” Ms. Noem said.
Mr. Lakanwal is accused of killing 20-year-old Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and severely wounding Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, a fellow West Virginian who is fighting for his life.
SEE ALSO: Second National Guardsman shot in D.C. ambush is ‘hanging on,’ West Virginia congressman says
Democrats took exception to the Trump administration’s explanation, saying officials were trying to deflect blame onto their predecessors.
“This is a president who refused to take responsibility for anything,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, told ABC.
The senator said the U.S. should review its vetting procedures, but it was unclear if the government mishandled the case of the pre-Thanksgiving ambush.
“The reality is we really don’t know what motivated him to take this particular act,” Mr. Van Hollen said. “It’s not clear that you could have picked something up in this case.”
Mr. Lakanwal worked in a special Afghan Army unit known as a Zero Unit, with CIA support.
He entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the American withdrawal. Many had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats.
He resettled with his wife and their five sons, all under the age of 12, in Bellingham, Washington, but struggled, according to the community member who shared emails that had been sent to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit group that provides services to refugees.
Emails reviewed by The Associated Press described a man who was struggling to assimilate, unable to hold a steady job or commit to his English courses while he alternated between “periods of dark isolation and reckless travel.” Sometimes, he spent weeks in his “darkened room, not speaking to anyone, not even his wife or older kids.” At one point in 2023, the family faced eviction after months of not paying rent.
One community member, in an interview, spoke of becoming worried that Mr. Lakanwal was so depressed that he would end up harming himself. But the community member did not see any indication that Mr. Lakanwal would commit violence against another person.
There were “interim” weeks where Mr. Lakanwal would try to make amends and “do the right things,” according to the email, reengaging with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services as was mandated by the terms of his entry into the U.S.
Authorities say Mr. Lakanwal drove across the country before the D.C. shooting.
“This guy drove across the country, as we all know, from Washington state to execute our National Guard members,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on “Fox News Sunday.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
