Shooting reported near White House

[Telltale]

I find something very strange about traveling to DC to shoot the first random NG soldier he encountered. If he wasn't employed and essentially not making any money, how did he fund the trip. And why would he drive that distance when he could have easily found other targets closer. To me it seems someone else encouraged him to do this, maybe paid him? I hope this is thoroughly and completely investigated because I don't think this was his plan. JMO.

PTSD, paranoia, delusion, grievance, revenge, terrorism, or to make a statement, or all of the above.

Unfortunately, America has so many mass shooters, that doing it in a random state would be unlikely to get anything like the same coverage. Even with the extra political currency of him being who he is.

Killing guardsman in DC is much more likely to hit the national news and get a reaction from Trump/the administration, and it has.

What his motivation was, I assume will come out in time. I imagine he wanted all this attention drawn to something specific (sane or not.)

At least on what we know now, this reminds me of that incident around the inauguration. The veteran who loaded up a cyber truck with explosives drove all the way to a Trump hotel/tower and tried to detonate it at the entrance (luckily only killing himself.)

 

[Ontario Mom]

This would not be a conversation if their father had his record as an American veteran of the same war.

RSBM

You're correct, this would likely not be a convo if the shooter had been an American vet. But he's not, so it's completely understandable IMO that folks will be concerned. No one knows how this man raised his kids & what he taught them about America or anything else. We know what he clearly felt was acceptable. Did he raise the kids to think & do the same as he's done? I think that's a fair question.

This man's wife & kids are also his victims in this but at the same time, the concern is legit, I believe.

 

[Sundog]

Afghan refugee starts new life in Pacific Northwest | Cascadia Daily News

Over half of Afghan refugees who came to Bellingham relocated to Seattle

www.cascadiadaily.com

Here's an account of how one young married Afghan refugee came to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul and has made the best of the support he has received from the U.S. government and local community support organizations. He wasn't sitting at home playing video games and holding some kind of ill will against the country that gave him this opportunity to raise his family here.

 

[Charlot123]

Hamza bin laden was 12 when his father osama the head of al-qaeda attacked on 9/11.
He was supposedly killed 2019 but it’s been reported that he is still alive.
I would not trust his kids.
Jmo

I don't know what to say about the kids because neither of us knows enough about their situation. I assume that the kids, quite possibly, are afraid of their dad. They may be victims of DV.

I have two questions. One, the shooter was on a shaky ground here and yet has the gun. Is it normal to allow humanitarian parolees to obtain the gun? If not, where did he get it?

And the second one; I have no clue about what was happening in the guy's head but I know my state.

- What were his drug screen results? Expanded panel, including K-2?

Osama bin Laden is not a good comparison. JMO. For starters, he was a very rich man, his father was a billionaire. Osama had own wealth dedicated to jihad and eventually became self-sustained, in a broad sense of this word. (Also, coming from the culture and the country practicing endogamy, with likely unpredictable mental health effects. This factor is similar to what Afghani have, but perhaps, not to the same degree as it is related to wealth and inheritance). I was trying to compare the 9/11 group to other terrorists. 9/11 terrorists came from well-off families, most of whom had never been to the US and were young (Atta was an outlier). Many were of age when people can naturally be radicalized, be it with religion, or communism, or whatever ideology people run into. (Germany had totally missed these cells, but it was a different, peer-pressured group). There is always a risk that any group can be radicalized, but then, we have own-bred sexually confused vegans turning terrorists, who'd expect this?

"Radicalization" is not always religious. It is always possible, and it is hard to predict.

Lately, we always hope that no new wars will occur, but they do happen. To send out former "allies" would be a very bad precedent and example.

 

[Charlot123]

He deserves the death penalty. I am having a hard time finding any sympathy for this man. He might have mental health issues and maybe he wasn't getting any help for that.. but he left his wife and 5 children and drove 3000 miles to DC to find random national guard soldiers and killed them. They did nothing to him, and he went to a lot of trouble to get to DC to carry this out. If his goal was to make a statement by doing this in DC, then to me it's terrorism. He didn't just lose it and start killing people in his town, he chose to drive across the country to the capitol and to me that shows a bigger motive.


He also abandoned his family. If he is the reason they were allowed to come to the US, then he should have been providing for them and instead he does this and now there is no way he will be providing for them, and we are faced with what to do. It seems cruel to force them to leave because I have a heart and until I hear otherwise, I am assuming they are all innocent in his big plan and had no idea.

I also want to know what his children were exposed to at home. His oldest is almost the age he was when he decided to serve his country. At some point along the way his ideas got really skewed. Did he influence his children to feel similarly? This might not be a popular opinion and that's okay, I just think this is more complex than saying his wife and children should be allowed to stay. Again, I'd say HE caused this situation and now his family is in limbo. IMO

As an immigrant: you expect something very different when you move to US for work. In my case, i thought that America was like Europe. Nothing similar IRL. Everyone upholds their contract, but "OK, you speak English. You have the money. Here is the newspaper with apartments to rent". For me, "go ahead" was super easy with my main plan - job, courses and exams - but finding an apartment was difficult because I knew nothing of different areas and communities. Another example: people whom I called, assuming that I had few money, told me, "you pick up the receiver and say, "collect a call", this is how you call us". So for two months, I was "collecting a call" from a well-to-do office, whomever i called! It just never occurred to me that that was not the only was to call in America of the 90-es.

So of course it is easier now, with Google and all, but then, i didn't come from Afghanistan. I can see a huge difference between Essa Masich and Rahmanullah. Education, maturity, knowledge of English, one is stable and another one, mentally ill. I can understand why people move to Seattle. I wonder why the shooter stayed back.

 

[browneyes]

My thoughts and prayers right now are with the families and friends of the two NG who were ambushed, shot, critically injured, and one left deceased. I can’t care about the other noises right now. Those two young people shot for what? There is no answer. Blessings to all who loved them, and my sincere thanks for their selfless service to our country.

 

[Chimera]

Cannot find updates for the surviving victim, Andrew.
Hope that means he is hanging in there , and will recover !

My thoughts are with his family ... and for the family of the sweet young lady who is no more -- due to the acts of a selfish coward.
Omo.

Eta :

Update on National Guard member after being shot in DC 'terror attack'

An update has been shared on the condition of Andrew Wolfe, 24, who was shot in the 'terror attack' in Washington DC on Wednesday and on his alleged attacker Afghan Rahmanullah Lakanwal.

www.dailymail.co.uk

A West Virginia representative has revealed the second victim of the horrific 'terror attack' on National Guard members in DC is 'hanging on'.
The representative said that the family lived just 20 minutes away from him in West Virginia, and that they are 'committed to service.'

'His father is a deputy sheriff in the county next to mine and Andy wanted to follow in that footsteps and serve his nation as a National Guardsman,' Moore explained.

The congressmen said that Wolfe's family believes in the power of prayer and hopes that the nation will join them in praying for their son as he remains in critical condition.

Praying for Andrew !!!!
Please let there be some good to come out of this senseless act of violence.
Imo.

 

[Elley Mae]

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Neighbors at the Walton Place apartments in Bellingham were woken up Thursday morning to FBI agents yelling and kicking in the door of an apartment believed to belong to the man accused of shooting two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C.

“I’m shocked because you don’t know who your neighbors are,” said a man who identified himself as Mouze. “The father had a very mean look, like people were beneath him, like don’t look at me, don’t talk to me - just one of those kind of personalities.”

Bellingham neighbors react to FBI investigation of man accused in D.C. terror attack

Neighbors at the Walton Place apartments in Bellingham were woken up Thursday morning to FBI agents yelling and kicking in the door of an apartment

komonews.com

 

[Elley Mae]

In all, the feds uncovered “potential derogatory information” on a total of 6,868 people who came from Afghanistan as part of President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in 2021.

Of that number, 5,005 came up with a national security concern, while 956 people had “public safety” concerns and 876 were flagged for fraud, according to the data.

Exclusive | Over 5K Afghan migrants flagged on ‘national security’ grounds since 2021, document reveals

In all, the feds uncovered “potential derogatory information” on a total of 6,868 people who came from Afghanistan as part of President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in 2021.

nypost.com

 

[Mauig’ma]

In all, the feds uncovered “potential derogatory information” on a total of 6,868 people who came from Afghanistan as part of President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in 2021.

Of that number, 5,005 came up with a national security concern, while 956 people had “public safety” concerns and 876 were flagged for fraud, according to the data.

Exclusive | Over 5K Afghan migrants flagged on ‘national security’ grounds since 2021, document reveals

In all, the feds uncovered “potential derogatory information” on a total of 6,868 people who came from Afghanistan as part of President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in 2021.

nypost.com

Wow! Just wow!!

 

[knla]

Suspect in National Guard attack struggled with 'dark isolation' as community raised concerns

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan man accused of gunning down two National Guard members blocks from the White House last week, had been unraveling for years.

apnews.com

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that they believe the Afghan shooter was radicalized in the US, local to his Washington state home.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal was unable to hold a job, and would take off on weeks long cross country trips.

 

[Sundog]

In all, the feds uncovered “potential derogatory information” on a total of 6,868 people who came from Afghanistan as part of President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in 2021.

Of that number, 5,005 came up with a national security concern, while 956 people had “public safety” concerns and 876 were flagged for fraud, according to the data.

Exclusive | Over 5K Afghan migrants flagged on ‘national security’ grounds since 2021, document reveals

In all, the feds uncovered “potential derogatory information” on a total of 6,868 people who came from Afghanistan as part of President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in 2021.

nypost.com

From the article:

Even while compiling its report, the IGs office noted the feds charged two Afghan nationals, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi and Abdullah Haji Zada, with planning an ISIS-inspired plot to try to disrupt the 2024 elections in Oklahoma City.

Tawhedi — who came into the US in 2021 on a Special Immigrant Visa and obtained two AK-47 assault rifles and 500 rounds of ammo in 2024 — pleaded guilty in June to providing material support for ISIS and faces up to 35 years in prison. Zada, 19, got a 15-year sentence.

Tawhedi reportedly worked for the CIA as a security guard in his home country.


BBM
Sounds familiar...

 

[Sundog]

Wow! Just wow!!

So much for the vetting process.

 

[georgiajean]

Wow! Just wow!!

For clarity, reading the entire article, of the 70,000 Afgan people brought into the country after Taliban took control again, 7,000 were found to have potential security concerns, or 10% (the article does not say when this was discovered). "While various US agencies were able to resolve many of the red flags, as of September there were still 885 people with potentially negative national security information." This represents a little over 1% of the original 70,000. The vast majority of Afghan people who were brought here are living there lives without incident.

There is a great deal of political, partisan rhetoric surrounding this issue. This is clear in this article, from the BBC, which attempted a deep dive into this issue of how Afghan nationals were vetted and what the process was for bringing them over.

How were Afghan evacuees vetted under Biden?

BBC Verify looks into claims that the Afghan national suspected of shooting two National Guard members in Washington DC entered the US unvetted.

www.bbc.com

"Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the immigration advocacy group the National Immigration Forum, told BBC Verify she was present at the US military bases where evacuees were initially processed.
"Evacuees were processed on military bases and held for several weeks, and even months, until they were ready for entrance into the United States. This is when the security vetting and medical screening was processed, extensively", she said.
"Even the best vetting can't predict the future. He [Lakanwal] could have had a clean record, been an appropriate candidate for humanitarian protection, and then something changed."

 

[Charlot123]

From the article:

Even while compiling its report, the IGs office noted the feds charged two Afghan nationals, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi and Abdullah Haji Zada, with planning an ISIS-inspired plot to try to disrupt the 2024 elections in Oklahoma City.

Tawhedi — who came into the US in 2021 on a Special Immigrant Visa and obtained two AK-47 assault rifles and 500 rounds of ammo in 2024 — pleaded guilty in June to providing material support for ISIS and faces up to 35 years in prison. Zada, 19, got a 15-year sentence.

Tawhedi reportedly worked for the CIA as a security guard in his home country.


BBM
Sounds familiar...

How did they obtain guns?

Someone might have lent guns to them, but that person had to buy them from someone too. I seriously doubt they brought the guns from Afghanistan.

I think that whoever broke the gun sales laws has to be found out and prosecuted too.

With Rahmanullah, I seriously wonder if he was buying stuff to self-medicate. WA has liberal laws re. use, but not re. illegal manufacturing or sales. If this was a factor, it needs to be known.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

He deserves the death penalty. I am having a hard time finding any sympathy for this man. He might have mental health issues and maybe he wasn't getting any help for that.. but he left his wife and 5 children and drove 3000 miles to DC to find random national guard soldiers and killed them. They did nothing to him, and he went to a lot of trouble to get to DC to carry this out. If his goal was to make a statement by doing this in DC, then to me it's terrorism. He didn't just lose it and start killing people in his town, he chose to drive across the country to the capitol and to me that shows a bigger motive...

I'm generally not a proponent of the DP, but in this case, it's the only way to seek justice for the shooting of two National Guardsmen, killing one. I hope the shooter doesn't sit behind bars for years and years before his punishment is carried out.

 

[Charlot123]

I'm generally not a proponent of the DP, but in this case, it's the only way to seek justice for the shooting of two National Guardsmen, killing one. I hope the shooter doesn't sit behind bars for years and years before his punishment is carried out.

We need to know if he was religiously radicalized; where did he get the guns; if on drugs, where obtained?; did he tell about the mental illness and if he got treatment? Swift DP would cover all these questions.

 

[Elley Mae]

A leading national refugee agency was warned multiple times that the Afghan terror suspect accused of murdering one National Guard member and critically injuring another was spiraling into mania and mental illness beginning in 2023, according to a bombshell email leak.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal‘s behavior was so disturbing that a local community advocate reached out to a refugee organization for help, according to emails to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) seen by the Associated Press.

Refugee group was warned that DC shooting suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal was spiraling into mania — he got asylum anyway

Alternating between “periods of dark isolation and reckless travel,” the Afghan suspect sometimes spent weeks in his “darkened room, not speaking to anyone, not even his wife or o…

nypost.com

…

More at link

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

For clarity, reading the entire article, of the 70,000 Afgan people brought into the country after Taliban took control again, 7,000 were found to have potential security concerns, or 10% (the article does not say when this was discovered). "While various US agencies were able to resolve many of the red flags, as of September there were still 885 people with potentially negative national security information." This represents a little over 1% of the original 70,000. The vast majority of Afghan people who were brought here are living there lives without incident.

There is a great deal of political, partisan rhetoric surrounding this issue. This is clear in this article, from the BBC, which attempted a deep dive into this issue of how Afghan nationals were vetted and what the process was for bringing them over.

How were Afghan evacuees vetted under Biden?

BBC Verify looks into claims that the Afghan national suspected of shooting two National Guard members in Washington DC entered the US unvetted.

www.bbc.com

"Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the immigration advocacy group the National Immigration Forum, told BBC Verify she was present at the US military bases where evacuees were initially processed.
"Evacuees were processed on military bases and held for several weeks, and even months, until they were ready for entrance into the United States. This is when the security vetting and medical screening was processed, extensively", she said.
"Even the best vetting can't predict the future. He [Lakanwal] could have had a clean record, been an appropriate candidate for humanitarian protection, and then something changed."

Exactly this. The public has a very tough time understanding that no one can predict the future, which is why after tragedies like this, everyone rallies around the "what ifs" and the blame game. In very, very rare circumstances can interventions be carried out that save lives. In most cases, no one knows someone is homicidal until after the fact. This is why the Biden administration allowed him in and why the Trump administration gave him asylum. Two entirely different administrations who agree on virtually nothing, both thought this man was safe...until he wasn't.

No one could have predicted this.

MOO.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I'm generally not a proponent of the DP, but in this case, it's the only way to seek justice for the shooting of two National Guardsmen, killing one. I hope the shooter doesn't sit behind bars for years and years before his punishment is carried out.

One could apply that to all victims though. That's the thing. I'm anti-DP in all cases, but I'm curious for those who are also anti-DP in most cases, but not this, what's the difference? Is it that she was NG? I'm not saying that's wrong. My heart breaks for her family and I have nothing but respect for the young woman. I just don't agree with the DP in general.

MOO.