Feds investigating how DC National Guard shooter was radicalized in US: Why he snapped?

WASHINGTON — Federal investigators are looking at whether the Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members in broad daylight was radicalized after arriving in the US — despite clearing vetting by two different presidential administrations, a senior official told The Post.Rahmanullah Lakanwal passed security reviews both when he entered the US during President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 and again when he secured asylum under the Trump administration in April. “You can vet what people have done in the past.You can’t vet what people might do in the future,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained on Fox News‘ “Hannity.”Authorities are homing in on what happened during Lakanwal’s four years in the United States – most recently residing in Bellingham, Washington – that would motivate him to drive 3,000 miles across the country and shoot two National Guard members in the head in an ambush attack near the White House. Lakanwal, 29, yelled “Allahu Akbar!” before firing his gun at the soldiers from West Virginia who were protecting the nation’s capital, according to a police report.

He’s charged with murdering Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounding Staff Sgt.Andrew Wolfe, 24. The Trump administration responded to the shock attack by closing down asylum applications, halting visas from Afghan nationals, and freezing immigration from up to 30 countries.

Still, federal officials are signaling that Lakanwal underwent a murderous change that vetting wouldn’t have necessarily picked up because it happened after he arrived on US soil.“We believe he was radicalized since he’s been here in this country,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”“We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we’re going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him.”Lakanwal was shot by another National Guard memb...