US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that an Afghan man who fled the Taliban was the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House, calling it an “act of terror”.
The announcement in a brief video message signalled the intertwining of three politically explosive issues – Trump’s controversial use of the military at home, immigration and the legacy of the US war in Afghanistan.
The incident, which left two Guard members critically wounded, was “an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror”, Trump said. “It was a crime against our entire nation.”
He confirmed that the man taken into custody after the daylight shooting two blocks from the White House was “a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan”.
The suspect had arrived in the United States in 2021 “on those infamous flights”, Trump said, referring to the evacuations of Afghans fleeing as the Taliban took over the country in the wake of the US retreat after 20 years of war.
The shocking attack, carried out next to a metro station at a time when the streets and offices of downtown Washington were bustling, also puts a new focus on Trump’s controversial militarisation of an anti-crime push around the country.
Trump has deployed troops to several cities, all run by Democrats, including Washington, Los Angeles and Memphis. The deployments have prompted multiple law suits and protests from local officials who accuse the Republican of seeking authoritarian powers.
Trump’s statement also indicated that his equally controversial drive to root out migrants in the country illegally – the core of his domestic agenda – will get new impetus.
“We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan” under former president Joe Biden, Trump said.
“We must take all necessary measures to endure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country if they can’t love our country, we don’t want them.”
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‘Ambushed’
Jeffery Carroll, assistant chief of the Washington police, said the gunman “ambushed” his victims.
He “came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard members”.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the two Guards members were in “critical condition”.
Trump earlier said on social media that the suspect was “also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price”.
An AFP reporter near the scene heard several loud pops and saw people running.
Dozens of bystanders were caught up in the chaos.
“We heard gunshots. We were waiting at the traffic light and there were several shots,” said Angela Perry, 42, who was driving home with her two children.
“You could see National Guard running toward the metro with their weapons drawn.”
Soon after the shootings, security agents flooded the area. Officers carrying rifles stood guard behind yellow tape at the perimeter and a helicopter circled overhead.
An AFP reporter saw emergency crews running toward the metro with a wheeled stretcher and shortly after emerging with a casualty wearing camouflage whom they loaded into an ambulance.
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Troops controversy
Washington’s government buildings are heavily guarded, but much of the city has suffered from years of sometimes serious street crime.
Trump made Washington a showcase for his decision to order National Guard soldiers – in camouflage and occasionally carrying rifles – to do law enforcement in Democratic-run cities.
In the wake of Wednesday’s shooting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that 500 more troops would deploy to Washington, adding up to 2,500.
Last Thursday a federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of thousands of National Guard troops in the US capital was unlawful.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)