8:20 AM: Analysis from Leo Sands, Breaking News Reporter/Editor
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in an interview with Fox News Digital that the suspected shooter previously worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, in Afghanistan. He said the suspect had been “a member of a partner force in Kandahar” without providing further details on his role. The suspect arrived in the U.S. in September 2021, he said.
7:55 AM: Trump attacks Biden’s migration policies following attack
Following Wednesday’s shooting, President Donald Trump escalated his attacks against the Biden administration’s migration policies and said that the suspect’s apparent Afghan identity underscored the need for tighter border controls.
“We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden,” said Trump in a video address on the eve of Thanksgiving, casting immigrants as an existential “national security threat” to the country and saying he would “ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.”
The Department of Homeland Security identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakamal. According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, the person entered the United States under Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden-era initiative to resettle vulnerable Afghans after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The Homeland Security-led effort aimed to resettle Afghans, particularly those who worked along U.S. forces in Afghanistan, following what it called a “rigorous screening and vetting process.”
In a post on X, Vice President JD Vance echoed Trump’s broader swipes against immigrants, vowing to ramp up the administration’s wider immigration crackdown in the wake of the attack. “We will first bring the shooter to justice, and then we must redouble our efforts to deport people with no right to be in our country,” he said.
In addition to criticizing the Afghan resettlement program, Trump attacked immigration more generally, saying “hundreds of thousands of Somalians are ripping off our country” in Minnesota. The Somali community has not been linked to Wednesday’s attack, and the latest census data indicates that Minnesota is home to around 76,000 people with Somali heritage, rather than hundreds of thousands.
Last week, Trump said he was “terminating, effective immediately,” temporary protected status for Somali immigrants living in Minnesota. Nationwide, there were 705 Somalis with the status as of August, according to the Library of Congress.
By: Leo Sands
7:18 AM: What National Guard troops have been doing in D.C.
National Guard members stationed in D.C. after President Donald Trump declared a “crime emergency” have patrolled public spaces and helped pick up trash, among other duties, in a role that Army officials have acknowledged can carry risks.
Guard members were activated on Aug. 11, and the Trump administration temporarily took control of the police department. They have been involved in “beautification efforts,” such as removing graffiti, assisting with traffic control, supporting the police and being stationed at Metro stops, according to the D.C. National Guard. Patrolling the Farragut North and West Metro stops near the scene of the shooting was a common assignment. The Guard’s role was intended as a “crime deterrent,” and members do not conduct arrests but have the authority to detain people, Army Lt. Col. John E. Landry said at the time of the deployment.
The use of troops to support domestic law enforcement, something typically reserved for instances of mass rioting or other unrest, led to criticism from D.C. officials and those who fear heavy-handed tactics could exacerbate tensions in the nation’s capital. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the Trump administration over the deployment, and a judge ordered it to cease the mission on Dec. 11 barring intervention by a higher court. The administration has appealed.
Records show Army officials also voiced concern that the deployment could be risky for troops. It “presents an opportunity for criminals, violent extremists, issue motivated groups and lone actors to advance their interests, given the prominence of locality, and expected media coverage for the mission,” according to an internal memo made public by court documents. Troops were instructed to move in buddy teams because of the “heightened threat environment,” The Post previously reported. Following Wednesday’s shooting, Trump ordered an additional 500 members of the National Guard to the capital.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Wednesday that President Donald Trump requested a deployment of 500 additional National Guard troops to Washington after the shooting — a move that is likely to intensify the debate over the Guard’s presence in the city.
By: Julie Yoon
6:05 AM: Map: Where the shooting unfolded
The shooting took place on 17th Street NW, between I and H streets, about two blocks from the White House.
By: Álvaro Valiño
5:45 AM: Immigration pause dashes hope of refuge for Afghans who helped U.S. forces
Many Afghans waiting for resettlement in the United States responded with shock to the government’s pause in immigration requests after administration officials identified the suspect in the D.C. shooting of two National Guard members as an Afghan national.
While President Donald Trump had suspended the refugee admissions program in January, affecting thousands of Afghan refugees who remain stuck in Pakistan and other countries, some who worked directly with U.S. forces during the 20-year war in Afghanistan were still eligible for Special Immigrant Visas.
A 23-year-old Afghan in Pakistan said he found out about the pause in immigration requests on television Thursday morning. He and his family had been eligible for SIVs because of his father’s longtime work with U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
“I’m truly afraid,” he said, speaking via a messaging app on the condition of anonymity because he worries that Pakistan — where he has waited while his case was processed by U.S. authorities — may round up his family and deport them to Afghanistan. Pakistan has forced more than 1 million Afghans to leave since 2023 in a crackdown that has increasingly affected people who were initially under U.S. protection.
“We sold everything we had so that we could go to America and start a new life far from danger,” the refugee said. “If this process really stops, I will have nothing left in life.”
For others, who were already blocked by the suspension of the refugee admissions program, Wednesday’s announcement felt like confirmation that their path to the United States is rapidly disappearing. Tania, 43, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan, called Wednesday’s shooting an “inhumane and immoral act.” Now, she said, she worries that “our voices will be forgotten.”
By: Rick Noack and Haq Nawaz Khan
5:18 AM: What is the Operation Allies Welcome program that gave Afghans U.S. entry?
The suspected shooter entered the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said Wednesday, an initiative set up by the Biden administration following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Homeland Security-led effort was launched in the aftermath of the Taliban’s return to power and aimed to support and resettle vulnerable Afghans, particularly those who worked along U.S. forces in Afghanistan for more than two decades.
Many Afghans became eligible for Special Immigrant Visas, qualifying for lawful permanent residence and the opportunity to eventually apply for U.S. citizenship.
Before being admitted, all applicants underwent “rigorous screening and vetting” to ensure that they were not a national security risk, officials said at the time. The operation involved hundreds of personnel from Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard and Secret Service and included biometric and biographic checks.
In the wake of the shooting, President Donald Trump announced that his administration will conduct a full review of Afghan nationals who were admitted to the U.S. under the Biden administration. Noem said many were admitted without vetting, a claim disputed by humanitarian groups.
Shawn VanDiver, president of nonprofit #AfghanEvac, a coalition that supported the relocation efforts, said in a statement that Afghans immigrants undergo “some of the most extensive security vetting of any population entering the country.” He added that the suspected shooter should have “full accountability and prosecution under the law” but cautioned against vilification of an entire community based on the actions of one person.
By: Niha Masih
5:01 AM: Video: Witnesses describe what they saw and heard during the shooting
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