West Virginia officials slam Afghan withdrawal after DC National Guard shooting

CHARLES TOWN, WV – EXCLUSIVE: The Thanksgiving Eve capturing that left one West Virginia Nationwide Guard member lifeless and one other clinging to his life enraged high officers in Charleston, West Virginia. One laid the blame squarely on the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, saying his state is “one massive little metropolis” grieving collectively.

The suspect, Rahmahullah Lakanwal, reportedly labored with a CIA-led unit combating the Taliban on America’s behalf, confirmed Fox Information Digital, which helped evacuate folks throughout the fall of Kabul below then-President Joe Biden.

Josh Holstein, chairman of the Republican Social gathering of West Virginia, informed Fox Information Digital on Friday that the information made him offended, and that anger turned to devastation when Sarah Beckstrom of Summersville, West Virginia, succumbed to her accidents, and Andrew Wolfe of Inwood, West Virginia, stays in crucial situation.

ALLEGED DC SHOOTER ENTERED US UNDER AFGHAN RESETTLEMENT PUSH MAYORKAS SIN THAT WOULD BE DONE ‘QUICKLY AND SAFELY’

The Nationwide Guard is seen following stories of two Nationwide Guard troopers being shot close to the White Home in Washington on Wednesday, November 26, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP)

“It is simply been a horrible tragedy right here in West Virginia,” mentioned Holstein, who can also be a state delegate from Boone County, West Virginia. “This does not occur usually for West Virginians, and it is simply such a profound tragedy.”

“One of many issues I’ve mentioned from the start is that West Virginia is only one massive little city,” he mentioned. “And other people come collectively in tragedy, in triumph, in every thing. We come collectively and we have fun, we mourn, at all times collectively.”

Holstein mentioned in occasions like these, political events do not matter, and Mountaineers got here again collectively after the capturing. West Virginia Democratic Social gathering Chairman Mike Pushkin, reverse Republican Sens. Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito, all gave equally heartfelt responses.

‘IT’S REALLY AN INVASION’: PROTESTERS SLAM TRUMP’S DC POLICE TAKEOVER AS CRIME TURNED

Vacationers are greeted by a West Virginia welcome signal after crossing the East River Mountain Tunnel on I-77 in Princeton, West Virginia. (Charlie Creitz/Fox Information Digital)

“West Virginians from all political sides of the aisle got here collectively and mourned and shared a way of deep unhappiness, however not simply unhappiness, however gratitude for these folks, particularly these two younger folks,” he mentioned. “And naturally yesterday, when it was Thanksgiving, it was a somber reminder that we do not all get along with our households on Thanksgiving.”

“These two had been each combating for his or her lives on the time, and now one has since handed away,” he mentioned. “I simply really feel like West Virginians specifically have such a novel urge to serve. You’ll be able to see it in our per capita numbers, what number of veterans we’ve got in comparison with different states within the nation. We’re at all times prepared and at all times in a position to serve one another and… it actually is an ideal description of who West Virginians are.”

When stories emerged about Lakanwal’s origins and background, that sentiment turned to anger, Holstein mentioned, noting that the 29-year-old Afghan “should not even have been right here.”

TRUMP’S PLAN TO DEPLOY NATIONAL GUARD IN DC LEADS TO BACKGROUND FROM RESIDENTS, BUT SOME WELCOME IT

The official state portrait of West Virginia GOP Chairman Del. Josh Holstein. (West Virginia Home of Delegates)

Relating to the 2021 Afghan withdrawal, through which Lakanwal made his strategy to the US, Holstein famous that “whenever you create chaos, chaos follows.”

‘The withdrawal from Afghanistan was an entire debacle; full chaos,” he mentioned. “And it led to folks actually operating and leaping on planes and coming to the USA because of this. It was full chaos. There was no deliberate system, it doesn’t matter what any of the federal government officers from the earlier authorities had mentioned about it.”

“It is actually simply an indictment of our nation’s immigration system,” he mentioned. “We have now an immigration system that places different folks first. It does not put Americans first, it does not put the nice of the nation first. It kicks different folks out of random locations across the nation.”

MAN SHOT AND KILLED IN DC HOURS AFTER TRUMP FEDERALIZES CITY’S POLICE DEPARTMENT

Holstein mentioned President Donald Trump gave the suitable reply when he promised to crack down on immigration from Third World international locations and immigration from unstable governments.

“I believe that is simply one other instance of our must focus extra on merit-based immigration and controlling who comes into our nation always,” he mentioned.

When requested if he needed the West Virginia Nationwide Guard to proceed deploying to Washington as a part of Trump and U.S. Lawyer for D.C. Jeanine Pirro’s crime-cleanup efforts, Holstein was undeterred.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“We won’t cower in entrance of this sort of folks (Lakanwal). You’ll be able to’t cower within the face of tragedy,” he mentioned, including that about 150 different Guardsmen from his state serve in Washington.

“So I hope everybody stays there and perhaps much more folks come from completely different locations,” he added.

Brooke Singman and Tessa Hoyos of Fox Information Digital contributed to this report.