On Wednesday, two National Guard soldiers were brutally attacked in Washington, D.C.
Tragically, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom ultimately died and West Virginia service member Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition at the hospital.
Authorities took 29-year-old Afghan Rahmanullah Lakanwal into custody. The foreign national is currently hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Following Beckstrom’s death, the Department of Justice (DOJ) signaled its intention to seek death penalty charges against Lakanwal.
“I will tell you early, we will do everything in our power to seek the death penalty against that monster who should not have been in our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
As Resist the Mainstream previously reported, Lankawal entered the U.S. in 2021 under the Biden administration as part of the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Lankanwal reportedly served in the Afghan Army and aided U.S. troops for 10 years.
According to the Daily Mail, the 29-year-old Afghan “suffered mental issues” resulting from his years of fighting in a CIA-backed military unit in Afghanistan. He served in the CIA’s “Zero Unit” and was welcomed into the U.S. on a temporary visa as part of Operation Allies Welcome.
Lankawal’s childhood friend told the New York Times that the Afghan national suffers from PTSD, following his many years of service in the Army.
“When he saw blood, bodies, and the wounded, he could not tolerate it,” the friend told The Times. “It put a lot of pressure on his mind.”
The friend added that, oftentimes, Lankawal would share details of the difficult operations his unit was involved in.
“He would tell me and our friends that their military operations were very tough, their job was very difficult, and they were under a lot of pressure,” he said.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Lankawal was associated with the agency. In an interview with Fox News, the director revealed that the Afghan’s service with the agency ended after the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Ratcliffe lambasted the Biden administration for allowing the foreign national, among others, to enter the U.S.
“The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the US government, including the CIA,” Ratcliffe told Fox News. “The individual – and so many others – should have never been allowed to come here.”
“Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures,” the CIA director said.
Shockingly, the Trump administration allowed Lankawal to remain in the U.S. after his temporary visa expired in 2024.
