Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, claimed on Sunday that the suspect in the national guard shooting in Washington DC was “radicalized” in the US and blamed the Biden administration, though the suspect’s asylum was approved under Donald Trump.
The shooting suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was granted asylum under the Trump administration in April 2025. He worked with CIA backed units in Afghanistan, coming to the US in September 2021 under an Operation Allies Welcome program.
“We believe he was radicalized since he’s been here in this country,” Noem said 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, who were his family members, who talk to them.”
The Trump administration used the shooting as justification to halt and review asylum and green card applications.
Noem claimed “vetting is happening when they come into the country, and that was completely abandoned under Joe Biden’s administration”.
“All that vetting information was collected by Joe Biden’s administration,” said Noem. “The vetting process all happened under Joe Biden’s administration.”
Noem also denied that she defied a judge’s order when she ordered deportation flights to El Salvador to continue, instead blaming “activist” and “radical” judges.
The comments came in response to questioning on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday about whether Noem made the decision to continue the deportation flights for Venezuelan immigrants earlier this year, as the Department of Justice has alleged.
“We’ll continue to do the right thing, continue to work and protect Americans, no matter what radical judge comes out and tries to stop us,” Noem said.
Noem also appeared on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, where she confirmed the flights were her decision.
“Yes, I made that decision and that decision was under my complete authority and following the law and the constitution and the leadership of this president who is dedicated to getting dangerous criminal terrorists and gangs and cartels out of our country,” Noem said. “This is an activist judge and I understand, you know, we’re still in litigation with this against this activist judge who’s continuously tried to stop us from protecting the American people.”
The Department of Justice claimed the decision did not violate the judge’s order. US district Judge James Boasberg in Washington DC had ordered deportation flights already in the air return to the US in March 2025, but Noem ordered flights already in the air transporting Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador continue, with the justice department claiming the detainees were no longer in US territory.
Boasberg has been undergoing a contempt inquiry into whether the Trump administration defied his March court order.
