On November 26, 2025, two National Guard members were ambushed and critically wounded just blocks from the White House in downtown Washington, D.C., in an attack that sent shockwaves through the capital and the nation. Authorities have identified the suspect as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who has been taken into custody and is under federal investigation.
Video and law enforcement accounts describe a calculated, close-range ambush outside a busy metro entrance, where the gunman opened fire on high-visibility patrols and continued the attack using a downed guard’s rifle before other guards returned fire and subdued him. The scene — in broad daylight and within sight of America’s seat of government — fits the description of a targeted, paramilitary-style assault that should make every American uneasy about who is being allowed to live among us.
Reporting indicates the suspect entered the United States in 2021 under the Operation Allies Welcome program, part of the Afghanistan evacuation and resettlement effort after the U.S. withdrawal, raising fresh questions about vetting and placement decisions made in Washington. In the immediate aftermath, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced an indefinite halt to processing immigration requests for Afghan nationals while officials reassess security and vetting procedures.
Former FBI special agent Stuart Kaplan weighed in on Jesse Watters Primetime, arguing that this attack underscores the real national-security consequences of porous borders and lax resettlement screening, remarks that landed like a warning rather than partisan rhetoric. Kaplan’s national-security perspective adds an expert voice to what many Americans are demanding: a sober look at how any admitted evacuee might become a threat.
The political response was predictably heated: the president ordered additional National Guard troops to the capital and federal officials said the FBI’s joint terrorism task force would lead the motive probe. Conservatives are right to press for swift, transparent answers about how this individual entered, why vetting failed if it did, and what steps will be taken to keep Americans safe without sacrificing common-sense enforcement.
This incident is not an abstract policy debate — it is a catastrophic policy failure in human terms when uniformed Americans are shot while serving. Lawmakers in both parties must stop the platitudes and pass real reforms: tighten vetting for any special-entry programs, ensure meaningful local placement oversight, and restore clear chains of accountability at every agency that touches resettlement and interior security.
We should pray for the recovery of the wounded Guardsmen and demand that our government secure the homeland with the seriousness it deserves. The American people want a capital that is safe, borders that are controlled, and leaders who defend citizens first; anything less after today’s attack is a betrayal of that duty.
