Afghans in US issue plea to Trump after ‘tragic’ Washington DC shooting

Afghans living in the US have condemned the “extremely tragic” deadly shooting attack in Washington DC on Wednesday, while insisting that the suspect – who defected to the US from Afghanistan four years ago – does not represent them.

The alleged gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the US under a program that offered special immigration protection to Afghans working with the US in view of the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan in 2021.

National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died in Wednesday’s shooting and a colleague, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, is said to be fighting for his life.

In response, US President Donald Trump has halted the processing of all immigration requests from Afghans, ordered a review of green cards issued to individuals from 19 countries, and threatened a broader crackdown on migrants from what he calls “third world countries”.

The Afghan Community Coalition of the United States expressed its sympathies to the families of the victims, calling for a “comprehensive investigation”, but urging the US government not to delay or suspend processing Afghan immigration claims.

“The twenty-year-old Afghan-US partnership must not be forgotten,” the coalition statement said, pointing to the two-decade effort launched by the US in 2001 to oust Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and establish security in the country.

Afghans living in the US told the BBC they were horrified by the Washington DC attack, insisting it was the act of just one person.

Some spoke anonymously out of fear of reprisals by the Taliban, which took back control of Afghanistan after the US troop withdrawal in 2021.

One of the Afghans who made the move following the US withdrawal described Wednesday’s incident as “deeply saddening”. He noted the timing between before Thanksgiving and “the extremely charged political environment in Washington, DC.”

But he highlighted that the shooting was an “individual criminal offense, not representative of any community”.

“Afghans in the United States are hard-working, tax-paying members of society,” he said. “They are grateful to the US for its evacuation efforts during the crisis in Kabul.”

Thousands of Afghans tried to flee the country in 2021, many via Kabul, as the US withdrew its troops and the Taliban moved in.

US officials say the suspect, Mr Lakanwal, had ties to the US military while deployed in Afghanistan. A former military commander who worked with him told the BBC that he helped secure US forces at Kabul airport during their withdrawal.

He came to America the same year. He had applied for asylum in 2024 and his application was accepted earlier this year, an official told BBC affiliate CBS News.

Another Afghan, who moved to the US following the country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan four years ago, called Wednesday’s shooting “really shocking.” He said he was praying for the families of the victims.

He expressed doubt that it was an “individual crime committed without any support, participation and cooperation from others”, and said that the attack “should not be attributed to the entire community”.

Another Afghan man living in the US, speaking to the BBC, said the shootings were “a very devastating event for all immigrants”, adding that the political reaction has left many people in a state of uncertainty.

Feeling the situation was more serious due to threats in his native country, he said: “We Afghans have problems in Afghanistan as well as here.”

Crystal Bayat, an Afghan human rights activist who moved to the US after 2021, said that despite securing permanent residency, she still fears the US government could make sudden changes in accepting Afghan migrants.

“I fear every day what if the policy changes and they kick us out of here?” Ms Bayat said this on the Outside Source program on the BBC World Service.

“I hope President Trump changes his mind on this,” Ms Bayat said. “It’s very dangerous to punish entire immigrant communities, or people who stood shoulder to shoulder with the (American) people.”

He said there are families in Afghanistan who are still in danger because of America’s support before the withdrawal.