Man charged in National Guard shooting pleads not guilty from hospital bed
Rahmanullah Lakanwal is accused of shooting of two National Guard members. (Reuters: Nathan Howard)
In short:
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the National Guard shooting on November 26.
He made a court appearance by video from a hospital bed.
What's next?
A judge has ordered he be detained, citing "sheer terror" that resulted from his alleged actions.
A man accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and assault charges.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who was also shot, made his initial court appearance by video from a hospital bed.
His attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf on the charges stemming from the November 26 shooting that killed Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and wounded Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24.
Specialist Beckstrom and Sergeant Wolfe were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard for US President Donald Trump's law-enforcement surge in the nation's capital, which has flooded the city with federal agents and troops since August.
National Guard troops Andrew Wolfe, left, and Sarah Beckstrom, were shot just blocks from the White House. (Reuters: Nathan Howard)
Authorities were investigating a possible motive for what they described as an ambush-style attack.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office in Washington DC charged him with murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.
Prosecutor Ariel Dean described the shooting as a "shocking crime" and said it appeared that Mr Lakanwal "traversed the city to some extent" before approaching the troops and shooting them.
The magistrate ordered him detained, citing the "sheer terror that resulted" from Mr Lakanwal's alleged actions.
The rare shooting of National Guard members on American soil comes amid court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration's use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.
Mr Lakanwal entered the US in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that resettled Afghans after the US withdrawal from the country, officials said.
He applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but his asylum was approved under the Trump administration, #AfghanEvac said in a statement.
Mr Trump called the shooting a "terrorist attack" and criticised the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who worked with US forces during the Afghanistan War to enter the US.
The president has said he wanted to "permanently pause migration" from poorer nations and expel millions of immigrants from the country.
AP