Donald Trump and his top officials insisted that the Afghan national who opened fire on two National Guardsmen on Nov. 26 could face the death penalty. The shooting led to the death of Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and left Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, critically injured.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, was a member of the Scorpion Forces. He worked with the CIA as a GPS tracking specialist and even helped U.S. troops escape from Kabul during the shambolic retreat from Afghanistan in 2021.
RIP Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom.
She lived and died with honor and dignity.
Prayers to her family and fellow Guardsmen 🙏🏼🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/IpywTSSdfa
— ‘Merican AF 🇺🇸 (@mericanaf7) November 28, 2025
While furious Trump and his allies, including Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth, have vowed to bring him to justice, investigators are questioning why a man vetted by two administrations, with no criminal record or history of extremism, would attack heavily armed troops without any clear motive.
According to The Daily Beast sources, the investigators are digging deeper into the possibility that Lakanwal was forced by the Taliban to carry out the shooting. The sources say that investigators aren’t ruling out the scenario that he was made an offer he couldn’t refuse.
CHARGED: The Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guardsmen was formally charged and appeared in court remotely from his hospital bed.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s attorney says he pleads “not guilty” to all charges.
Lakanwal faces two counts of assault with intent to kill,… pic.twitter.com/UrQLxkZ8Vr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 2, 2025
In 2021, about 123,000 people were airlifted from Kabul Airport and Lakanwal was one of them. It is reported that about 700 members of the Scorpion Forces were detained in Afghanistan as they worked closely with America and helped them escape.
Since the evacuation, a Taliban unit known as Yarmouk 60 operates with the sole aim of tracking down and executing Afghans who worked with the West. If they cannot reach their targets, they target their families still living in Afghanistan.
Investigators believe the Taliban may have forced Lakanwal to carry out the mission under threat that his family would be beaten, murdered, or beheaded.
Earlier this year, a member of the elite special forces (Afghan Triples) in Afghanistan fled the country and moved to Germany with the hope that his family would join him later. Afghan Triples was set up and funded by the U.K. to combat the Taliban. In retaliation, the Taliban killed his wife, his father, and four of his children, two of whom were beheaded, according to a source who spoke to The Swamp.
“People in this country have no idea about the level of stress these people are under. Most of them have families back home, and if the Taliban cannot get to them, they are making it very clear that they will go after their families,” said an intelligence source.
🚨MAJOR BREAKING: MAGA is stunned into silence as officials confirm the National Guard shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the U.S. in 2021 and was vetted and granted LEGAL ASYLUM by the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION in April 2025.
Their entire narrative just collapsed. pic.twitter.com/xRQVEbGv9W
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) November 27, 2025
Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted asylum by the Trump administration in April this year. However, it is believed that he was concerned that Donald Trump would block his Green Card application and might deport him to Afghanistan, as lately, the administration has been aggressively detaining and deporting immigrants. Meanwhile, Trump has been blaming Joe Biden for the attack, citing that he allowed “terrorists” and “criminals” into the country. But critics have pointed out that it was Trump who approved his asylum request.
The suspect has been charged with first-degree murder, and his attorney indicated that he is pleading not guilty.
