Noem claims that the suspect in the murder of a National Guard soldier could have been radicalized in the United States
Secretary of Homeland Security Christine Noem suggested that the shooter who attacked National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., may have been radicalized after arriving in the United States. The suspect, Lakanwal, an Afghan who worked with the CIA during the war in Afghanistan, arrived in the United States after the fall of the Afghan government in 2021 and was granted refugee status in April 2023. Noem said the detainee was "not sufficiently vetted" by the Biden administration.
Source ABC
Noem criticizes the verification procedures, noting that the detainee may not have been sufficiently vetted given the guidance provided by the Biden administration. Security expert John Cohen, however, argues that during Operation Allied, all refugees were vetted based on classified and open data, as well as biographical and biometric information. Several senators, including Chris Van Hollen, have disputed Noem's claims, emphasizing the lack of evidence that vetting made the situation more difficult during the attack.
