National Guard Attack Sparks Controversy Over Political Tensions

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon criticized remarks by MS Now’s Ken Dilanian that she said crossed a line at a moment when the country should be united, calling the comments “outrageous.” She emphasized that the National Guard’s deployment in Washington had “objectively” made the city safer, stating, “As a D.C. resident, I personally have been very grateful to see the presence of the National Guard and these brave men and women throughout our city.”

Two West Virginia Guardsmen remained in critical condition Wednesday after being shot near 17th and I streets NW. Authorities said the suspect, a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021, allegedly lay in wait before opening fire. According to DHS, the suspect — identified by the agency as Rahmanullah Lakamal, a criminal alien — entered the United States on Sept. 8, 2021, under Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden administration’s mass-parole initiative that admitted tens of thousands of Afghans following the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul. DHS stated that Lakamal was among those paroled into the country “unvetted.”

Dhillon declined to discuss investigative specifics but said the DOJ, FBI, and D.C. police are examining potential hate-crime elements and coordinating with federal prosecutors. “This is a federal crime, among other things, and this DOJ has a zero-tolerance policy for any of this type of a crime,” she said. She also tied the incident to broader concerns about unvetted migrants entering the country, noting she was speaking only within the limits of her role. She said the DOJ and Department of Homeland Security are conducting coordinated enforcement actions nationwide. “What I will say is that it is inescapably the fact that when you have unvetted people pouring into our country and not necessarily the most desirable people, you have crime, you have collateral impacts,” she said.

The ambush shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., should spark a national reckoning over political . . . Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., used a Wednesday appearance on Newsmax to argue that the Washington, D.C., shooting that cri . . . Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademark of Newsmax Media, Inc.
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