House Hearing on Shooting of National Guardsmen Sparks Controversy

The leading Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee characterized the shooting of two West Virginia National Guardsmen in Washington as an “unfortunate accident” during a Thursday hearing, which was quickly met with backlash.

On the day before Thanksgiving, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom from Webster County lost her life, while Andrew Wolf from Berkeley County sustained serious injuries after being shot by Rahmanullah Rakanwar, an Afghan refugee residing in Bellingham, Washington.

In a hearing focused on “Global Threats to the Homeland,” Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi engaged in a back-and-forth with FBI Operations Director Michael Glasheen about Antifa’s headquarters before asking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the authorization of Rakanwar’s case review.

“Secretary, you and the man at NCTC (Joe Kent) referred to this as an unfortunate accident that led to the death of a National Guard member,” Thompson remarked to Noem.

Noem shot back, “Do you really see it as just an unfortunate accident? It was a terrorist attack.”

Thompson raised a hand, gesturing towards Noem, and insisted, “Please clarify your stance.”

Noem replied forcefully, “He shot our National Guard member in the head.”

Thompson seemed taken aback and redirected his attention to Chairman Andrew Garbarino, asking him to instruct Noem to conclude her responses.

“It was certainly a tragic event, but you’ve assigned sole blame to Joe Biden. I need to understand who approved this individual’s asylum application,” Thompson stated.

Noem countered that Rakanwar was among the Afghans admitted under Biden’s Operation Ally Welcome and Operation Ally Evacuate, both of which her predecessor Alejandro Mayorkas maintained were rigorously vetted.

“Members of Congress should be reminded that we adhere to the law, and all asylum facilities are obligated to conduct annual check-ins. However, the Biden administration failed in this regard, letting this individual enter our country without proper due diligence,” she said.

Garbarino then asked Noem to allow Thompson to continue his questioning, leading Thompson to once again inquire about who ultimately approved Rakanwar’s asylum application.

Noem responded in similar fashion, and Thompson voiced concerns about potential perjury, claiming he didn’t mean to mislead but believed the Trump administration had ultimately sanctioned Rakanwar’s asylum request. Reports indicated that the Trump administration did issue final approval after the November incident.

Noem reiterated that the asylum processes had all been observed as required during the Biden administration, suggesting that scrutiny had existed then.

Thompson noted that Rakanwar had been vetted for serving as a “soldier in Afghanistan” alongside U.S. forces and claimed Biden capitalized on that to grant him entry into the U.S.

“If we had adhered to standard procedures for special immigrant visas, neither he nor any of the ‘Allies Welcome’ individuals would have entered America. This ultimately falls on Joe Biden,” Thompson remarked.

As Garbarino regained control of the discussion, Rep. Andy Ogles IV from Tennessee expressed his outrage towards Thompson.

“That was a murder in Washington, D.C., not just an unfortunate incident,” Ogles asserted, calling the comments made disrespectful.

Garbarino ruled Ogles’ remarks as out of line according to House rules and next called on Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas for further questioning.