by Matthew Holloway | Dec 5, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The murder and attempted murder of West Virginia National Guard Soldiers Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, by Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, in November is being investigated as a possible act of international terrorism. The attack on the soldiers seems to align with warnings the Biden administration was given in 2021 by then-prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Congressman Abe Hamadeh.
The latest reports from Washington, D.C., indicate that Beckstrom and Wolfe were shot in what law enforcement officials are calling a “targeted” attack near the Farragut West Metro station near the White House. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro told a press conference that both Guard members had been sworn in to assist with the ongoing crime suppression efforts in the nation’s Capitol for less than 24 hours, according to Fox News. She described a “brazen and targeted attack,” and said the Guard members were “ambushed.”
“A lone gunman opened fire without provocation, ambush style,” Pirro told reporters. “Armed with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver, one Guardsman is struck, goes down, and then the shooter leans over and strikes the Guardsmen again. Another Guardsman is struck several times.” Nearby Guard members rushed the assailant; one opened fire, and they quickly subdued the attacker.
Pirro told reporters, “This is what happens in this country when people are allowed in, who are not properly vetted.”
President Donald Trump informed the nation last Thursday evening that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom of Summersville, one of the West Virginia National Guard members ambushed in Washington, D.C., had passed away from her injuries, in post to X.
According to Reuters, the suspect first entered the U.S. in September 2021, as part of the Biden administration’s Afghan resettlement program: Operation Allies Welcome, the very program Hamadeh wrote about in a 2021 op-ed for the Arizona Republic. The suspect had worked with the CIA in Afghanistan as far back as at least 2011 and was granted asylum in April of this year. “In terms of vetting, nothing came up,” an unnamed senior U.S. official told Fox News. “He was clean on all checks.”
Hamadeh’s op-ed offered a troubling, almost prescient warning to the Biden administration after the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He cautioned that a string of incidents that year created “concern whether the Biden administration is doing enough to vet refugees arriving on American soil.” He noted, “We need to do more rigorous checks.”
The reports that Lakanwal passed “all checks” would seem to support Hamadeh and Pirro’s conclusion.
“By not properly vetting refugees, we do a disservice to the Afghans who served with us. No vetting is foolproof, and bad actors may still go undetected. However, a proper vetting process can greatly reduce the risk,” Hamadeh wrote. He added, “The State Department has identified Phoenix as a top destination for refugees. Arizonans are generous, and a vast majority of Arizonans agree that the United States should accept Afghan refugees who assisted us in the U.S.-led NATO mission.”
Hamadeh went on to describe newly implemented security vetting that included: “biometrics, biographical and social media data collection,” stating, “This process is rigorous and can take weeks and months to complete, and is similar to the process that Afghan refugees should be undergoing right now.”
He warned that the Biden administration instead insisted upon releasing the Afghan refugees “to their permanent states after only four weeks on U.S. military installations.” He commented, “Americans should be skeptical that tens of thousands of refugees here on humanitarian parole status could be thoroughly vetted in that short amount of time.”
Hamadeh concluded: “Arizona leaders should also demand answers from the federal government and require that the vetting process is shared between federal and state officials in order to ensure the safety of Arizonans.”
As of this report, West Virginia National Guard Member Wolfe remains hospitalized in serious condition. The suspect was also hospitalized due to his injuries and remains there under heavy guard.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Dec 3, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The terroristic attacks and threats by Afghan nationals in recent weeks have renewed concerns about the vetting of those resettled in Arizona.
On the day before Thanksgiving last week, an Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.; one of the two died, and the other remains in critical condition.
The shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, remains in custody. He entered the country in late 2021 with his wife and five children under Biden’s resettlement program, Operation Allies Welcome, following the botched Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021.
Volunteers who worked with Lakanwal’s family claimed in interviews with NPR that Lakanwal didn’t show signs of radicalization prior to the terrorist attack. Rather, they claimed Lakanwal showed signs of mental instability and struggles to adjust to life in the U.S.
These volunteers also revealed that Lakanwal would drive away from his Washington state residence for long stretches in the weeks leading up to his attack, traveling to other states without explanation given to those around him — including Arizona.
Similarly, sources told ABC News that Lakanwal’s mental health was in decline leading up to the attack. Lakanwal was allegedly stressed by family finances, since his work permit expired and he was unable to find steady work.
However, sources advised ABC News that Lakanwal was granted asylum in April of this year, which grants automatic work authorization, after applying last year.
Approval of Lakanwal’s asylum petition occurred on the basis of the previous administration’s vetting procedures, which have been in question from the start of the resettlement program.
Another Afghan citizen — Mohammad Dawood Alokozay residing in Fort Worth, Texas — was charged on Tuesday for terroristic threats. Alokozay threatened to commit a suicide bombing as part of a jihad against Americans.
Like Lakanwal, Alokazay passed allegedly thorough vetting procedures under the previous administration.
According to the archived Operation Allies Welcome webpage, the Department of Homeland Security deployed 400 personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, and Secret Service to multiple locations abroad to conduct processing, screening, and vetting alongside other federal agencies.
Screening and vetting consisted of biometric and biographic screenings.
About 200,000 Afghans were granted asylum under the initial resettlement program, Operation Allies Welcome, and its successor, Operation Enduring Welcome. A little under 4,000 Afghan refugees have been brought into Arizona as part of the resettlement program since 2022, per the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program.
The Trump administration is reexamining these Afghan asylees following this latest terrorist attack.
Back in 2021, congressional leaders questioned the thoroughness of these procedures.
This resettlement program had red flags from the start.
Officials identified numerous incidents concerning Afghan men arriving at intake centers and claiming female children as their wives. These child brides reported being raped by these men and forced to marry them.
Congressman Andy Biggs asked about these incidents and others in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security. Biggs also addressed the claims of refugee status given to Afghan men with criminal records or past terrorist organization associations.
In January, less than a week after taking office, Vice President J.D. Vance told CBS News that the Biden administration hadn’t properly vetted those awarded refugee status.
“Now that we know we have vetting problems with a lot of these refugee programs, we absolutely cannot unleash thousands of unvetted people into our country,” said Vance.
Last October, two Afghan nationals were arrested for planning an Election Day terrorist attack inspired by ISIS. Abdullah Haji Zada and Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi; the latter individual was brought into the country days after the Biden administration withdrew from Afghanistan.
These individuals were also alleged to have been properly vetted.
President Trump paused migration from third-world countries following the terrorist attack. In the Sunday press gaggle aboard Air Force One, Trump said Americans don’t need or want these foreigners.
“We don’t want those people. Does that make sense?” said Trump. “You know why we don’t want them? Because many have been no good and they shouldn’t be in our country.”
The federal government spent over $14 billion on the Afghan resettlement program.
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