By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Former US President Barak Obama on Wednesday in a post on X said, “Violence has no place in America. Michelle and I are praying for the service members shot in Washington, DC today, and send our love to their families as they enter this holiday season under the most tragic of circumstances.”
Media reports said that 2 National Guardsmen were shot in downtown Washington and remain in critical condition.
US media identified the alleged shooter as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the country in 2021.
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris also took to social media and sent her prayers to the families of the two National Guardsmen who were shot.
“Doug and I send our prayers to the two National Guardsmen who were shot earlier today in Washington, to their families, and to the communities that love them. Violence of any kind is unacceptable, and we all, together, must condemn this tragedy,” Harris said.
President Donald Trump called the attack an “act of terror”.
“This heinous assault was an act of evil and an act of hatred, and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity,” Trump said while addressing the nation on Wednesday evening (local time).
He added that the suspect in custody is a “foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on earth”, and blamed the previous Biden administration for allowing the attacker to enter the country under refugee status.
Trump also promised to “re-examine every single alien” from Afghanistan who entered the US under the Biden administration.
“We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country if they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” he added.
He also announced deployment of an additional 500 troops to “help protect our capital city.”
The shooting occurred 500 metres away from the White House.
Trump was not in the capital and is visiting Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday.
FBI Director Kash Patel addressed a press conference said that the case will be prosecuted at the federal level since “this is an assault on federal law enforcement officers.”
Multiple states have sent Guard personnel to Washington in recent months as part of President Trump’s public-safety crackdown. The mission has expanded to several other major US cities.
There are 2,400 National Guard troops currently deployed in Washington, which includes 958 from the DC National Guard and about 1,300 from eight other states.
