CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace joined the chorus of Republicans who are calling for Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan man accused of shooting two members of the West Virginia National Guard, to be executed.
"I hope that the DOJ and the judge in this case will put this terrorist down," she said. "He doesn't deserve to live."
West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in the shooting, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was critically wounded. Lakanwal has been charged with first-degree murder.
Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina, joined Fox News to say Lakanwal, who was granted asylum in April by the Trump administration, hadn't undergone extensive vetting due to policies from former President Joe Biden's administration.
"I believe that the vetting was very loose," Mace said. "The devastating withdrawal from Afghanistan had devastating consequences."
Mace says the Biden administration didn't "fully vet" the individuals coming from Afghanistan in the wake of the American withdrawal in 2021. However, the alleged shooting, Lakanwal, went through "rigorous vetting by the CIA," according to extensive reporting in the New York Times.
According to the NY Times, the CIA routinely drafted classified letters to include in immigration files to assist members of partner forces in Afghanistan seeking asylum or parole. U.S. officials believed Afghans who had worked with the agency would face heightened danger if they remained under Taliban rule as the American-backed regime collapsed.
All the reporting suggests Lakanwal appears to be one of those individuals.
In Afghanistan, Lakanwal worked in a special Afghan Army unit known as a Zero Unit. The units were backed by the CIA. He entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the American withdrawal. Many had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats.
That hasn't stopped Mace, or a cadre of other Republicans, from pointing the finger at immigration and the previous president.
"President Trump has indicated that we are going to review those individuals who have come over under the Biden administration," Mace said. "I believe that the vetting was very loose and that we did allow people to come over. We have to be diligent."
Trump called the shooting a "terrorist attack" and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the Afghanistan War to enter the U.S. The president has said he wants to "permanently pause migration" from poorer nations and expel millions of immigrants from the country.