00:00The suspect, he has been identified as Ramanullah Lackenwal, a 29-year-old Afghan who entered the United States under Biden's Operation Allies Welcome, a program following the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
00:21He resided in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and, we believe, five children.
00:30And we're working very closely with our federal partners, especially DHS and the FBI, to review his immigration history and the vetting process itself.
00:41What we know about him is that he drove his vehicle across country from the state of Washington with the intended target of coming to our nation's capital.
00:53As we stand here today, the charges that are appropriate right now are three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, a violation of D.C. Code 22-401 and D.C. Code 22-4502.
01:14He will also be charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
01:19He faces 15 years under the assault with the intent to kill.
01:25We intend to continue monitoring what the charges will be, depending upon the well-being of the guardsmen.
01:34We are praying that they survive and that the highest charge will not have to be murder in the first degree.
01:43But make no mistake, if they do not, that will certainly be the charge.
01:49Murder in the first degree.
01:51The Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi is committed to a thorough and an impartial investigation where we will hold this perpetrator accountable under the full weight of the law.
02:05Now, Sarah and Andrew volunteered.
02:07They came here to protect the people of the district pursuant to a crime emergency that President Trump rightly declared in this city and in other cities across the country.
02:19Our nation's capital should not and must not be a place where evil comes to commit violence, whatever their cause or motive may be.
02:30We should not have to live in fear in the nation's capital, especially by one who came here from a foreign country.
02:38Through a process that was so absurd that he came through and released into this country, as many were, knowing virtually nothing about his vetting.
02:52This is what happens in this country when people are allowed in who are not properly vetted.
02:58These guardsmen and all who are here to protect the district are the line that separates a civilized society from a barbaric one.
03:10They are the ones who stand for law and order.
03:14This was not just an attack.
03:16It was a direct challenge to law and order in our nation's capital.
03:20And they the individual will be made fully accountable.
03:25And though it seems that we have been here before under President Trump, make no mistake and the attorney general, we will not allow this to be normalized.
03:35It will be confronted, condemned and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
03:41Now, my message to the individual who committed these acts is you picked the wrong target, the wrong city and the wrong country, and you will be sorry for the violence and the evil.
Comments