Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan man who allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, previously served in one of Afghanistan's elite counterterrorism units, according to AfghanEvac, a nonprofit run by U.S. veterans and others who served in Afghanistan. The unit was operated by the CIA with direct U.S. intelligence and military support, according to AfghanEvac. Lakanwal's unit, NDS-03, operated at the direction of the CIA and fought the Taliban on behalf of the U.S. government, the group said.
Trump ally Laura Loomer sparked a wave of condemnation on Wednesday night after she posted on social media that she wants a king. Following the horrific shooting of two National Guard troops near the White House on Wednesday afternoon, Loomer wrote, That's it. I want a King. Loomer, a former two-time GOP congressional candidate, has long been closely aligned with President Donald Trump and, in his second term, has taken it upon herself to unmask Trump officials she views as insufficiently loyal to MAGA.
Despite recent wins by individual Democratic candidates in elections that focused on the issue of affordability, the Democratic Party is still in trouble. And it's not just the current state of Republican control of the White House and Congress, but also a supermajority of conservatives on the Supreme Court, seemingly hellbent on overturning hard-fought liberties and the Constitution itself. While the Republicans, led by President Trump, are outright denying that prices from food to healthcare continue to rise,
This afternoon, blocks from the White House, a man sneaked up on two West Virginia National Guardsmen and shot them in the head with a handgun. Both soldiers are reportedly in critical condition. A motive has not been determined, but a recent Afghan immigrant named Rahmanullah Lakanwal is in custody, according to CBS News. Early photos of the suspect show a burly, bearded man being wheeled almost naked into an ambulance.
The 29-year-old suspect was identified as an Afghan national who previously worked with the CIA and other U.S. agencies. He, too, remains in a local hospital under heavy surveillance after being shot by another Guard member, Pirro confirmed. She said the likely charges for the attack are three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Headquartered at the Pentagon, the Department of Defense employs nearly 2.6 million people and has an annual budget of more than $870 billion, making it the largest, and one of the best funded agencies in the federal government. Thousands of DOD employees, including both civilians and active-duty service members, are stationed in each of the 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C.
The suspected shooter of two national guard members in Washington DC on Wednesday worked with CIA-backed military units during the US war in Afghanistan, the agency has confirmed. The alleged gunman, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, came to the US in September 2021 under an Operation Allies Welcome program that gave some Afghans who had worked for the US government entry visas to the US.
F*ck you in the sweetest most southern drawl I can enunciate, Greene ranted. I have been trying tell all you men' that our kitchen pantry is empty with spider webs, our house has been ransacked, the windows and doors are broken and busted, and the greedy rich bastards have twisted your minds into a sick state. She added, Get off your ass and fix your own damn food and clean up the kitchen when you're done.
The suspect, who was wounded in an exchange of gunfire before he was arrested by other National Guard troops, has been identified by the Department of Homeland Security as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal. US President Donald Trump, who was at his resort in Florida to celebrate Thanksgiving at the time of the attack, released a prerecorded video statement on his Truth Social media account later on November 26 calling the shooting "an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror."
When Donald Trump withdrew his endorsement of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Georgia congresswoman who rose to prominence as one of his most loyal allies, on November 15, many dismissed it as just another episode of political theatre. But the moment marks something far more significant than a personal falling-out. It reveals a deepening civil war inside the Republican Party over who will lead the conservative movement after Trump, and over what America First should really mean.
Tonight, President Trump lashing out after The New York Times produced a detailed data-driven report and talking about how he may be showing some signs of aging. In that report, the Times writes, Mr. Trump has fewer public events on his schedule and is traveling domestically much less than he did by this point during his first year in office, noting that he also keeps a shorter public schedule than he used to, and that most of his public appearances fall between noon and 5 P.M. on average.
Trump said in an address last night from Florida, where he's spending Thanksgiving weekend, that the suspect "was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021, on those infamous [ Operation Allies Welcome] flights." Trump added: "[W]e will not be deterred from the mission the [wounded] service members were so nobly fulfilling. ... I have directed the Department of War to mobilize an additional 500 troops to help protect our capital city."
The Department of Homeland Security has determined that the suspect was "flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021" and "his status was extended under legislation signed by President Biden." Zoom in: Trump said the attack "underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation," pointing to millions of immigrants in the U.S. whom he said were "unknown and unvetted."
US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, , who once likened gender-affirming care to 'mutilation,' is currently undergoing... gender-affirming care. The 71-year-old Republican is reportedly taking hormone replacement therapy medication despite his repeated criticism of the medical treatment, which is an often life-saving way to affirm trans people's gender identity. Since becoming US health secretary in February, Kennedy has falsely framed gender-affirming care as a form of "chemical and surgical mutilation" while enacting policies pressuring major healthcare providers to cease trans healthcare services.
No, I I I mean, people were telling me about that. I wasn't watching CNN at that point. But I mean it doesn't surprise me. You know, I I those guys like they're not Tapper's just kind of like a clown. I mean he he always struck me as you know he's kind of like a an opportunist. He's very much JD Vance-ish.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
A new vision for the United States is being forced into place - one rooted not in liberty or justice, but in subjugation and the quiet normalization and acceptance of fascism. You can see it in the memes, the slogans, and the curated nostalgia flooding social media accounts aligned with the Trump administration. You can see it in the way frontier and 1950s iconographies have returned not as history but as aspiration.
Bloomberg News published the transcript yesterday of a leaked phone call between special envoy Steve Witkoff and one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's top aides, in which Witkoff appears to offer advice on how to flatter President Trump. If they want to know how to talk to Trump, they should ask Zohran, he jibed, rolling to a photo of Trump beaming at Mamdani during Friday's Oval Office presser.
President Donald Trump might not be ruining Christmas, but he's making it more expensive. American families are expected to spend $1 trillion on gifts and other goods this November and December, roughly 4 percent more than they spent last year. But they're paying more for everything-artificial trees, ornaments, toys, novelty sweaters. They have fewer options to choose from when they log on to Etsy and browse upscale boutiques.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
