Live shooting in Washington DC: Trump condemns ‘heinous attack’ on National Guard

Washington DC. Two National Guardsmen who were shot in the U.S. remain in serious condition in hospital.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the injured Guardsman as someone who served his country with commitment.”

“Heroes who want to serve in Washington, D.C. serve for people they don’t know, and have never met, because they love their country and their capital and their community,” he said.

“They were willing to do dangerous things; others weren’t, because they love their fellow Americans.”

US Citizenship and Immigration Services said late Wednesday that it had indefinitely halted all immigration requests involving Afghan citizens, after two National Guard soldiers were shot and seriously injured in Washington.

President Donald Trump said the shooting near the White House was a “terrorist act”, adding that the suspect had arrived from Afghanistan in 2021.

The move follows Trump’s call for his government to re-examine Afghan migrants who entered the United States during Joe Biden’s presidency.

“The safety and security of our homeland and the American people is our sole focus and mission,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a post on Twitter.

The D.C. commander of the Joint Task Force sent his “thoughts and prayers” to the two National Guard soldiers who were shot Wednesday.

The task force is the National Guard office responsible for organizing the guard mission at the U.S. Capitol.

“On behalf of myself and the entire task force, our thoughts and prayers are with the National Guardsmen and National Guard families who will be heading into the Thanksgiving holiday with a burden I would not wish on anyone,” U.S. Army Col. Larry Doan said in a statement. On X.

The White House press pool, a group of journalists who travel with Donald Trump and report on his activities, was not told about his off-the-cuff comments on the D.C. shooter.

A pool reporter said Wednesday that he was advised “neither before, nor after” about the inflammatory address streamed on the White House YouTube site.

The reporter stated, “No member of the Pool was present during their broadcast or taping. That Pool camera was not used.”

“Pool has no knowledge of the comments other than what the President has posted on his social media platforms.”

Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller vowed that the administration would “deport” anyone who “did not extend benefits” to the US, regardless of refugee or asylum status.

,[Trump’s] “The government is going to ramp up efforts to review every person who has come to this country over the last four years, a total of 20 million,” Miller told Fox News.

“Obviously, if you’re illegal you’re automatically out, but everybody else who was brought here, refugee, asylum status, whatever the status, as he said, if you’re not a person who loves this country, if you’re not benefiting this country we’ll deport you.”

Donald Trump said in remarks Wednesday night that the Department of Homeland Security was “confident” the suspect was from Afghanistan, which the president described as “hell on Earth.”

“In September 2021 he was sent by the Biden administration on one of those infamous flights that everyone was talking about. No one knew who was coming,” Trump said.

It appears the President was referring to Operation Alley’s Welcome. In August 2021, then-President Joe Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security to lead efforts in support of the operation, which worked to help resettle vulnerable Afghans in the US.

A relative of Rahmanullah Lakanwal told NBC News that he came to the United States after serving in the Afghan army for 10 years.

Donald Trump attacked the suspect who shot two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon in what the president called a “deadly ambush-style attack.”

“I am committed to ensuring that the animal who committed this atrocity pays the harshest price possible,” Trump, who was in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, said in an address Wednesday night.

Rachel Dobkin A recap of everything we know so far about the attack:

The head of the National Guard Bureau, Gen. Steven Nordhaus, said in a video posted on Twitter that he and his senior adviser, John Raines, would travel from Guantanamo Bay to Washington, D.C., to be with the guards affected by Wednesday’s tragic shooting.

“The chief and I were planning to celebrate Thanksgiving with our Guardsmen and joint force soldiers here at Guantanamo Bay, but we are returning to Washington, D.C., to be with our Guardsmen who continue to protect the capital city,” Raines said.

Nordhaus said: “We are devastated by this senseless act of violence, and we will remain deployed to protect and defend our fellow citizens at home and abroad.”

Advocacy group AfghanEvac condemned the attack in Washington DC, but warned that the incident should not be used to “isolate or harm” Afghans who have resettled in the US.

“We reject and condemn anyone who uses or attempts to use violence, and we stand with every American who is horrified and saddened by this crime,” said Shawn VanDiver, president of the San Diego-based group.

In a statement shared online he said the perpetrator should face “full accountability and prosecution under the law” and that “this individual’s isolated and violent act should not be used as an excuse to define or belittle an entire community.”

“Those who want to seize this moment to attack Afghan families are not seeking security or justice – they are exploiting division and putting us all at risk,” he said.

VanDiver added Afghan immigrants and wartime allies who resettle in the U.S. are required to undergo extensive security vetting.

CNN reports that a handgun believed to have been used in the attack on National Guard members has been recovered from the scene of Wednesday’s shooting at the Capitol.

Investigators are now trying to determine when and how the suspect obtained it.

US law prohibits the sale of firearms to people who are not citizens or legal permanent residents.

It is unclear how the suspect, now identified as an Afghan national who entered the country in 2021, may have obtained it.