US President Donald Trump blamed the previous Joe Biden administration for a shooting attack that left two West Virginia National Guard members critically injured in Washington, D.C. The suspect, identified as a man from Afghanistan, was described by Trump as having come from a country he called a “hellhole on Earth.”
The two Guard members, deployed to the nation’s capital, were shot Wednesday afternoon just blocks from the White House. Washington’s mayor characterized the incident as a targeted attack, while Trump referred to it as an “act of terror.”
FBI director Kash Patel and Washington mayor Muriel Bowser said the wounded Guardsmen were hospitalised in critical condition.
Speaking at a White House press briefing, Trump said that based on current information, the suspect is believed to be a foreign national who entered the United States from Afghanistan.
“I can report tonight that based on the best available information, the DHS is confident that the suspect in custody is a foreigner, who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on Earth. He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021, one of those infamous flights that everybody was talking about,” Trump said.
He added that, at the time, authorities “didn’t know who was coming in,” and claimed the suspect’s status was later extended under legislation signed by Biden.
The 29-year-old suspect, an Afghan national, entered the US in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration programme that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after US troops withdrew from the country, according to officials cited in an Associated Press (AP) report.
Trump condemned the shooting as an “act of terror.”
“This heinous assault was an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror,” he said, vowing that his administration would “reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan” during Biden’s presidency.
“We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden,” he added.
The suspect was also shot and sustained injuries that were not life-threatening, AP reported, citing a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
