New bombshell twist in DC National Guard terrorist investigation: Was the shooter blackmailed by the Taliban?

New York Post

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00:00A potential new twist in the investigation into Ramanula Lockenwall, the alleged terrorist who

00:05ambushed two National Service Guard members, killing one and critically injuring another.

00:10Sources told the Daily Beast that they're investigating a lead that Lockenwall might

00:14have been blackmailed by the Taliban, who may have threatened to murder his family in Afghanistan

00:19if he didn't open fire on National Guard troops. The Daily Beast reported that a Taliban unit

00:24known as Yarmouk-60 has made it a priority to track down and sometimes kill Afghans who helped

00:30U.S. troops during the war. The anonymous source told the outlet that the potential blackmail

00:35wasn't the, quote, only line of inquiry the investigators are looking into. Near Faragut

00:39Square Park on November 26, gunshots rang out when a shooter ambushed two National Service Guard members

00:45in a broad daylight attack. The gunman, later identified as 29-year-old Ramanula Lockenwall,

00:51allegedly trained the sights of a .357 Magnum caliber Smith & Wesson revolver at two armed

00:57National Guard members, Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, who had been patrolling the

01:03area at the time. Beckstrom was wounded in the heinous attack and later died. Wolfe was critically

01:09injured. A third unarmed National Guard member rushed to the scene, reportedly leaping towards

01:14the suspect and stabbing him with a pocket knife, according to conservative lawyer and strategist

01:19Mike Davis. A fourth National Guardsman later ran toward the fray with a pistol drawn and shot

01:25Lockenwall in the buttocks and leg. Disturbing video obtained by the Wall Street Journal shows

01:29the moment the hero National Guard member started shooting at the suspected terrorist, just moments

01:34after the alleged gunman ambushed Wolfe and Beckstrom. More troops were eventually able to run to the

01:40scene and pin the gunman down as he was taken into custody. Lockenwall and his family were welcomed

01:45into the U.S. four years ago after he served in the CIA-backed elite NDS-03 counterterrorism unit,

01:51one of at least five paramilitary zero units that worked with the U.S. clandestine civilian organization.

01:58Because of his service to the U.S., Lockenwall was led into America in 2021 under Operation Allies

02:05Welcome, a Biden administration program to help Afghans who fought against the Taliban escape the

02:10war-torn country in the wake of the disastrous American withdrawal. After being welcomed in the

02:16U.S., Lockenwall, his hijab-covered wife, and their five children settled in the idyllic northwest

02:22Washington city of Bellingham and were given a $2,000-per-month apartment. Neighbors told the

02:27Post he largely lived a quiet life in a modern apartment building where he often played Call of

02:33Duty and FIFA. One neighbor told the Associated Press that Lockenwall disappeared about two weeks

02:38before the shooting. A senior U.S. official told CNN that in 2021 Lockenwall was vetted by the CIA

02:45and checked through the National Counterterrorism Center. The official said the Afghan was quote

02:50clean on all checks. Some of that reporting though has now been contradicted by the National

02:55Counterterrorism Center's director, Joe Kent, who blamed the Biden administration for a lapse

03:00in Lockenwall's vetting process. It is true that the terrorist who conducted the attack in D.C.

03:05was vetted by the intelligence community. However, he was only vetted to serve as a soldier to fight

03:11against the Taliban, AQ, and ISIS in Afghanistan. He was not vetted for his suitability to come to

03:18America and live among us as a neighbor, integrate into our communities, or eventually become an American

03:24citizen. Lockenwall had applied for asylum in December 2024 and later got approval under the

03:29Trump administration in April of this year. While it's not entirely clear what his job was,

03:35a relative told NBC News that Lockenwall worked as a contractor for Amazon Flex,

03:40a delivery service in which contract workers make deliveries with their own vehicles.

03:45A motive for the shooting is still unclear, but officials are describing the attack as

03:49targeted. A childhood friend of Lockenwall's said the shooting suspect suffered mental problems

03:54from what he saw in Afghanistan. President Trump has also speculated about the suspect's mental state.

04:00He went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts. And that happens too. It happens too often with these

04:05people. Do you see him? But look, this is how they come in. This is how they're standing on top of

04:11each other. That's an airplane. There was no vetted or anything. They came in unvetted.

04:16Following the attack, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would stop processing

04:20immigration requests for Afghan nationals pending a review of security protocols and that all Biden

04:27era asylum cases would be scrutinized. President Trump also directed a sweeping review of green card

04:32holders from 19 countries of concern. Lockenwall was charged with first-degree murder while armed

04:38during a hearing with D.C. prosecutors at his hospital bedside, where he's being held under guard

04:43as he recovers from gunshot wounds. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro has said prosecutors will seek

04:50the death penalty in the case.

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