The recent shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington, D.C.—just blocks from the White House—has reignited fierce debate over the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan and the vetting process for Afghan refugees. The tragic incident, which left 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom dead and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe hospitalized in critical condition, has become a flashpoint for critics of President Joe Biden’s administration and its handling of the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
According to Fox News Digital and Newsweek, the alleged shooter, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was arrested mere moments after the attack near the Farragut West Metro station on November 27, 2025. Lakanwal, who had entered the United States under a program for those who had allied themselves with U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan, had been living in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children. Reports from CBS News indicate that he previously worked with U.S. agencies, including the CIA, in Kandahar before being airlifted out of Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.
This latest violence has brought renewed pain and outrage to families already devastated by the chaotic withdrawal. Darin Hoover, the Gold Star father of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover—one of thirteen U.S. service members killed in the Abbey Gate bombing at Kabul’s airport during the evacuation—publicly condemned the Biden administration’s vetting process for Afghan evacuees. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Hoover did not mince words: “This is on the feckless Biden administration. We had no idea who was getting into this country because the Biden administration, especially the State Department run by Antony Blinken, didn’t do the work that was needed to vet all these people. There were so many people put on the planes that got out initially, that we have no idea who they were.”
Hoover’s criticism did not stop there. He continued, “All we got is men of fighting age that are most likely terrorists that are here in the homeland to do us all harm and take our beloved United States of America. Maybe if the Biden administration started the process earlier than the truncated timetable that they did, this could have all come out so much better, including all of our most precious men and women of our military coming home.”
The 2021 Abbey Gate bombing, which killed over 160 Afghan civilians in addition to the 13 U.S. service members, has remained a raw wound for families like the Hoovers. Darin Hoover has been one of the most vocal critics demanding answers and accountability for the events of that day. He previously called for President Biden to resign over what he described as a “botched withdrawal,” expressing his outrage in public forums and criticizing Biden for not acknowledging the service members who died under his watch. “The rage, the absolute disgust that I got from hearing him say that—I started yelling back at the TV,” Hoover told Fox News Digital in 2024, referencing a debate in which Biden incorrectly claimed that no U.S. service members had died during his presidency. “He’s never acknowledged, not one time, any of our kids. He’s never said their names.”
The shooting is now under investigation by the FBI as a possible act of international terrorism, Fox News Digital reports. The attack has also prompted immediate policy responses and a flurry of political statements from both sides of the aisle. Former CIA Director John Ratcliffe echoed Hoover’s concerns, stating, “The individual—and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here. Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.”
Political leaders have weighed in forcefully. President Donald Trump, posting on Truth Social, characterized the incident as a “terrorist attack” and pledged to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.” He further promised to “terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”
In the wake of the shooting, the U.S. State Department has paused all visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports. Secretary of State Antony Blinken posted on X, “The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people.” Joseph Edlow, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, announced a temporary halt to all asylum decisions “until we can ensure that every individual is vetted and screened to the highest possible standard.”
Vice President JD Vance also weighed in, warning, “The U.S. cannot unleash thousands of unvetted people into our country.” The sentiment underscores the deepening divide over the nation’s immigration and refugee policies—a divide that has only grown more contentious in the aftermath of the Afghanistan withdrawal. Gold Star families, meanwhile, have vowed to continue pressing for public accountability and policy reforms related to the evacuation. The Abbey Gate bombing remains a rallying point for those demanding answers and change.
Supporters of more robust refugee programs argue that the vast majority of Afghan evacuees were fleeing Taliban persecution and had risked their lives to support U.S. military and diplomatic efforts. Many point out that rigorous vetting procedures were in place, though the sheer speed and scale of the evacuation presented extraordinary challenges. Critics, however, insist that the process was rushed and incomplete, leaving the door open for violent actors to slip through. The tragic events in Washington, D.C., have only intensified this debate.
The FBI’s investigation into the shooting is ongoing, and calls for a comprehensive review of Afghan refugee vetting procedures are gaining momentum. President Trump has urged a “re-examination” of all Afghans admitted under Operation Allies Welcome and vowed to halt Afghan immigration processing until security protocols can be reviewed. The Biden administration is now facing mounting pressure from both political opponents and grieving families to explain what went wrong and how future tragedies can be prevented.
For the families of those lost at Abbey Gate, like the Hoovers, the pain is still fresh—and the demand for accountability is as urgent as ever. The debate over how America welcomes its allies and protects its own continues to shape the nation’s politics and its conscience.
