Afghan immigrant radicalized in US before National Guard attack in DC: Noem

Officials believe the Afghan immigrant accused of attacking National Guard members in Washington, D.C. last week was radicalized after arriving in the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday.

Law enforcement officials have identified 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal as the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting a few blocks from the White House that left one National Guard member dead and another seriously injured.

“We believe he has been radicalized since he has been in this country,” Noem told NBC News. “We believe it was through connections within his community and his state, and we will continue to talk to people who interacted with him, who were his family members.”

He added that U.S. officials have received “some involvement” from people who know Lakanwal.

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Lakanwal entered the United States legally in 2021 as part of the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome, a program that evacuates and resettles Afghan refugees as the Taliban takes control of Afghanistan.

Noem criticized what she described as inadequate screening of Afghans and other foreign nationals during former President Joe Biden’s tenure, saying that although Lakanwal was officially granted asylum in April during the Trump administration, the vetting process took place entirely under the Biden administration.

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Undated file photo of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, DC, on November 26, 2025. (provided by the Ministry of Justice)

“When this abandonment of Afghanistan happened, the Biden administration put people on planes [and] “They brought them to the United States without examining them,” Noem said. “They brought them to our country and said they would examine them later.”

“All of this vetting information was collected by Joe Biden’s administration,” he added. “Joe Biden has absolutely not vetted any of these people.”

President Donald Trump has since implemented measures to strengthen scrutiny of arriving immigrants, including reviewing their social media activity and checking who they interact with, according to Noem.

Afghan refugees escaping from Kabul, Afghanistan, get off a US air force plane on August 29, 2021. (Armend Nimani/AFP)

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Following the devastating attack on Thanksgiving Eve, Trump also announced that his administration would impose additional restrictions on immigrants seeking to enter the United States, including halting all immigration from countries he described as “Third World Countries.”

“The President is absolutely committed at this point to halt all processes from third world countries until we have a full opportunity to vet these individuals,” Noem said Sunday. he said.