Washington DC - President Donald Trump and members of his administration have been insistently pushing false information about the gunman who recently shot two National Guard troops in the nation's capital.
On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sat down for an interview with NBC News, during which she made sweeping claims about Rahmanullah Lakanwal – the alleged gunman who migrated from Afghanistan – though she admitted her department has yet to find a motive.
"We believe he was radicalized since he's been here in this country," Noem claimed.
"We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we're going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members."
She later rejected the idea that the Trump administration had any involvement in Lakanwal being vetted and allowed into the country, claiming it "all happened" under Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden.
Last Wednesday, Lakanwal opened fire near the White House, shooting two soldiers at close range. Twenty-year-old Sarah Beckstrom was later confirmed dead, and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe continues to fight for his life.
In response, the Trump administration quickly began targeting Afghan nationals for deportation and suspended all Afghan immigration applications indefinitely.
The Trump administration blames Joe Biden for National Guard shooting
According to The Washington Post, Lakanwal worked with the CIA in his home country, a job for which he was vetted.
He was vetted again when he fled his home and entered the US under former President Biden's Operation Allies Welcome with a screening that involved the FBI, the CIA, and the National Counterterrorism Center.
ABC News reports that Lakanwal didn't apply for asylum until last year, which was granted by the Trump administration in April.
Nonetheless, the Trump administration and MAGA Republicans have made Lakanwal's nationality and blaming Biden the focus of their response.
Noem had previously blamed the Biden administration in an X post shared shortly after the shooting, in which she claimed Lakanwa was "one of the many unvetted, mass paroled into the United States" under UAW on September 8, 2021.
That same day, Vice President JD Vance shared his own post, arguing that the shooting now proves that he's not racist for criticizing Biden's immigration policies.
"I remember back in 2021 criticizing the Biden policy of opening the floodgate to unvetted Afghan refugees," Vance wrote. "Friends sent me messages calling me a racist.
"It was a clarifying moment," he added. "They shouldn't have been in our country."