National Guard shooting: Afghan man accused of murder, assault pleads not guilty; to remain in custody

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House, was formally charged with first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill on Tuesday.

However, the Afghan national, who appeared for the court hearing remotely from a hospital bed, pled not guilty to the charges, reported AP.

Lakanwal's lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf on the charges related to the shooting near the White House that killed Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and wounded Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24.

Despite the not guilty plea, a Washington DC judge ordered Lakanwal to be held in custody without bond, citing the "sheer terror" of the shooting on 26 November, which took place mere blocks away from the White House, the seat of power in the US.

Authorities in the US are still investigating a potential motive for the attack, which they described as resembling an ambush.

Trump tightens the screws on immigration

The development comes days after US President Donald Trump, in his address to the nation following the attack, labelled the shooting a "terrorist attack", before announcing that all immigration requests pertaining to Afghan nationals including visas, green cards, citizenship, and work permits would be suspended immediately.

In the aftermath of the attack, the Trump administration also announced "full scale, rigorous reexamination" of green card applications and other immigration benefits for people from 19 countries previously designated as “high-risk”, with full restrictions on Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, and partial restrictions on Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

What we know about Rahmanullah Lakanwal

Lakanwal entered the US in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that resettled Afghans after the withdrawal of US forces from the country.

While the 29-year-old had applied for asylum under the Biden administration, his asylum status was approved under the Trump administration, #AfghanEvac said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies)