Prosecutors will pursue the death penalty against the cowardly suspect who ambushed and critically wounded two West Virginia National Guard troops in Washington, DC Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed.
“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,” Bondi told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, whom the CIA confirmed worked with one of its elite counterterrorism units in Afghanistan, is facing at least three counts of assault with intent to kill and criminal possession of a weapon.
Those charges can result in up to 15 years behind bars.
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro noted that the charges against him could be elevated to murder if one of the two critically wounded troops succumbs to their injuries.
“If one of them is to pass, and God forbid that happens, this is a murder-one. Period, end of the story,” Pirro explained.
An enraged Bondi further blasted “progressive left idiots” for fueling hatred towards National Guard troops — as she vowed to probe whether they encouraged the Thanksgiving eve shooting ambush.
Bondi tore into the scores of liberal lawmakers and media commentators who have criticized President Trump’s decision to deploy federal troops to Washington, DC, suggesting the “disgusting” and “despicable” rhetoric is to blame for any ensuing violence.
“It’s actually sad what our country has come to with these progressive left idiots who are doing this and saying this about our heroes who are keeping them safe,” Bondi contended.
She added, too, that some liberals who have led the outrage against Trump’s push to protect the nation’s capital — including lawmakers — have security details to protect themselves.
“What these lawmakers are doing, what some of these news anchors on other networks are doing, what their guests are saying is disgusting, it’s despicable,” she said.
Follow the latest on the National Guard shooting in Washington, DC:
“They should be praising our men and women in law enforcement. We’re looking at everything they have said and why they said it and if they encouraged acts of violence.”
Lakanwal, who is thought to have been born in Afghanistan and came into the US in 2021 under the “Operation Allies Welcome” program, opened fire and struck two National Guard troops just blocks away from the White House on Wednesday, around 2:15 pm ET.
National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, were hit in the attack. Beckstrom’s father told the New York Times she has a “mortal wound.”
“It’s not going to be a recovery.”
Both suffered life-threatening injuries and have undergone surgery, according to officials.
A motive for the shooting is still unclear. Officials have described it as a “targeted attack” and claimed that Lakanwal drove cross-country from Washington state to carry out the shooting rampage.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that there “is an ongoing investigation of terrorism, make no mistake about it.” President Trump has similarly described the cowardly shooting as “an act of terror.”
“This was not just an attack; it was a direct challenge to law and order in our nation’s capital,” Pirro reiterated during a Thursday press conference.
Lakanwal had applied for asylum in December 2024 and later got approval under the Trump administration in April of this year.
CIA director John Ratcliffe has publicly confirmed that Lakanwal had worked with the top intelligence agency, but refrained from discussing specifics.
Lakanwal is believed to have served in the elite NDS-03 unit in Afghanistan, according to #AfghanEvac, a group of US military veterans who worked to evacuate allies out of the war-torn country.
Ratcliffe pinned the blame on the Biden administration for enabling Lakanwal to enter the US.
“In the wake of the disastrous Biden Withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden Administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. Government,” Ratcliffe said.
“This individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here,” the CIA boss added. “Our citizens and servicemembers deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden Administration’s catastrophic failures. God bless our brave troops.”
In response, the Department of Homeland Security announced it will pump the brakes on processing Afghan immigration applications “indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”
