During a heated House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Thursday, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) sparked outrage by dismissing the Thanksgiving-eve shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., as an "unfortunate accident." The casual characterization of what DHS Secretary Kristi Noem quickly corrected as a terrorist attack revealed Thompson's apparent inability—or refusal—to acknowledge the gravity of the attack that left 20-year-old U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom dead, and 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe critically wounded.

The exchange began when Thompson referenced what he called "the unfortunate accident that occurred with the National Guardsman being killed." 

Secretary Noem immediately pushed back, asking pointedly, "You think that was an unfortunate accident?" 

When Thompson tried to deflect, Noem shot back: "It was a terrorist attack. He shot our National Guardsman in the head."

Officials in Washington confirmed that the shooting of two National Guardsmen near the White House was a targeted attack. The gunman, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who was admitted to the U.S. as part of the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome, reportedly walked straight up to the troops on patrol and opened fire.

Thompson not only minimized the shooting but turned it into a partisan attack, pivoting to blame the Trump administration for approving the attacker's asylum application. He doubled down on his dismissive language.

“It was an unfortunate situation, but you blamed it solely on Joe Biden. I want you to know, who approved the asylum, uh, application, uh, for this same person?”

“Mr. Thompson, this individual that came into the country—“

“No, no, no,” Thompson interrupted. “No, I want to know who approved it.”

“Congressman Thompson, I want you to understand—“

“No, no, no, no!” Thompson interrupted.

The back-and-forth devolved into a combative exchange as Thompson repeatedly interrupted Noem's attempts to explain how the vetting process worked. Thompson interjected multiple times, attempting to prevent the Secretary from detailing how the attacker entered the United States under Operation Allies Welcome during the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal.

Noem fought to get her answer on the record despite Thompson's constant interruptions. "This individual came into the country under an evacuation of Afghanistan, under Operation Allies Welcome, was thoroughly vetted by the Biden administration at that point and that time, allowed into our country, and that was never followed up," she explained. She emphasized that the Biden administration failed to conduct required annual check-ins with asylum seekers as mandated by law.

Thompson then threatened Noem with perjury charges, insisting that the Trump administration's DHS had approved the asylum application. "I don't want to charge, file perjury charges against you, but I'm of the opinion that the Trump administration, DHS, your DHS, approved the asylum application," he said.

Noem held her ground, explaining that "the asylum application moved forward under all of the information and vetting processes that were put in place under the Biden administration, which is when vetting happened."

Thompson's primary concern appeared to be deflecting blame from the Biden administration onto the Trump administration.

Initially, it was believed that Rahmanullah Lakanwal was radicalized after entering the U.S. under the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome. However, last week, a new theory emerged suggesting that Taliban blackmail may have coerced Lakanwal into the attack. 

Federal investigators are exploring whether the Taliban threatened to harm his family in Afghanistan if he refused to carry out the shooting, raising questions about threats that standard vetting cannot detect. Lakanwal has no criminal record or history of extremism. He worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan as a GPS-tracking specialist for the Afghan Scorpion Forces. He assisted the CIA during the 2021 evacuation from Kabul, boarding one of the last flights out. His family, along with roughly 700 former Scorpion Forces members, remain under Taliban control, making them vulnerable to retaliation. Intelligence indicates the Taliban has a history of tracking and killing Afghans who aided the West, including brutal attacks on the families of collaborators.

More than 5,000 Afghans admitted under Biden have already been flagged as security risks. The potential for coercion highlights a vulnerability no standard screening process can fully address.