Trump’s DC Guard deployment didn’t fuel violence — Biden's Afghan vetting breakdown did

Afghan nationalist Rahmanullah Lakanwal was formally charged past week successful the horrific shooting of National Guardsmen Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom successful beforehand of a Washington, D.C. metro stop. Lakanwal allegedly murdered Beckstrom successful the shooting, portion Wolfe is reportedly inactive struggling to recover; Attorney General Pam Bondi has indicated that the Department of Justice intends to question the decease penalty.

But portion Lakanwal has his time successful court, a bigger statement is inactive raging implicit who is really to blasted for the murder: the shooter, oregon President Donald Trump. In the aftermath of the shooting, galore connected the near rushed to pin the blasted connected Trump.

Critics argued that the president’s National Guard deployment was a governmental stunt that had enactment Guardsmen similar Wolfe and Beckstrom successful the enactment of occurrence unnecessarily. The San Francisco Chronicle, for example, asserted that the shootings came "after months of warnings that deployments would inflame tensions." The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer took to X conscionable hours aft the shooting to statement Trump’s deployment a "political show" and asseverate that "these mediocre guardsmen should ne'er person been deployed."

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The world is that the deployment of the Guard to D.C., acold from being a show, has driven down transgression successful the superior — a important accomplishment successful a metropolis that has agelong been plagued by violence. And work for Lakanwal’s actions rests chiefly with the slayer himself, arsenic good arsenic with the Biden administration, which fto him into the state successful 2021 pursuing its disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.

No 1 tin quality that D.C. has a superior unit occupation — effort arsenic Trump’s critics might. Prior to the deployment, the city’s homicide complaint was down from its 2023 peak, but inactive 70% higher than its caller debased successful 2014. Data from the Council connected Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan crime-policy organization, bespeak that successful 2024, D.C.’s homicide complaint was higher than those of cities similar Atlanta, Chicago, and Philadelphia. And arsenic I’ve recovered successful my ain research, this unit is astir concentrated successful the District’s poorest and astir heavy number areas. In the city, 95% of execution victims and suspects are Black, and 92% are men.

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The Guard’s beingness has astir surely brought this unit down. Recent investigation from transgression researcher Jeff Asher identifies a marked diminution successful shootings since the Guard came in. That’s accordant with anterior investigation done by CBS, arsenic good arsenic with the reductions successful transgression that Memphis, Tenn., has seen during its ain National Guard deployment.

Some connected the near whitethorn privation to unreal that the guardsmen are conscionable determination for "show." But it doesn’t instrumentality a rocket idiosyncratic to recognize that deploying equipped authorities agents cuts crime, some by deterring lawbreaking and by relieving accent connected overtaxed and short-staffed constabulary departments. Anyone who professes to attraction astir the well-being of D.C.’s poor, Black, young men should cheer, not jeer.

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The champion disposable grounds indicates that Lakanwal’s acts, moreover, were not motivated by the Guard’s deployment. As acold arsenic we know, thing astir the beingness of the National Guard successful D.C. "inflamed" him to action. Rather, the representation that is opening to look is of a disturbed idiosyncratic allowed into the state aft a hasty vetting process pursuing the disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.

National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, were changeable successful Washington, D.C., connected Nov. 26. Beckstrom died connected Thanksgiving, Nov. 27 astatine the hospital. Wolfe is inactive recovering from the shooting. (United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia/Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

According to caller reports, Lakanwal had served with the CIA successful his location federation of Afghanistan. He was evacuated to the United States nether Operation Allies Welcome, the resettlement programme initiated by the Biden medication pursuing the Afghanistan withdrawal.

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These evacuees were ostensibly heavy vetted, some by the CIA and the administration. But seemingly this vetting missed Lakanwal, who reportedly struggled with assimilation and suffered from post-traumatic accent upset (PTSD). He "had been unraveling for years, incapable to clasp a occupation and flipping betwixt long, lightless stretches of isolation and taking abrupt weekslong cross-country drives" according to emails obtained by the Associated Press.

Undated record photograph of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the fishy successful the shooting of  two National Guardsmen successful Washington, D.C., connected November 26, 2025. (Provided by Department of Justice)

Lakanwal bears work for the alleged shooting archetypal and foremost. But determination is besides blasted to beryllium apportioned to immoderate nonaccomplishment of vetting fto specified a idiosyncratic — nary substance his anterior work — into the state and near him escaped to deteriorate until helium attacked. Lakanwal was 1 of the millions of immigrants, ineligible and illegal, admitted nether the Biden administration; his is conscionable the latest illustration of the perils of uncontrolled, irresponsibly managed immigration.

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In that regard, radical similar Lakanwal are precisely whom the National Guard was deployed to the streets of Washington, D.C. to deter. Just arsenic astatine the border, uncontrolled criminality has raged successful the city.

The Guard’s deployment was a captious corrective, not a pointless show. And claiming different does a disservice to Staff Sgt. Wolfe and Spc. Beckstrom, and to each different instrumentality enforcement serviceman and guardsmen who puts his oregon her beingness connected the line.