Soldiers Shot Near White House: Suspect ‘Had Link to CIA’ in Afghanistan

A shocking twist has emerged in the Washington, D.C. shooting that left two National Guard members critically injured: the suspect, an Afghan refugee, reportedly had past connections to a CIA-linked program during the war in Afghanistan, according to preliminary reports from federal investigators.

The revelation sent political shockwaves through Washington — and straight into the 2025 White House.

President Donald Trump, addressing the nation Thursday, seized on the incident as proof that “Biden’s chaotic refugee policies” endangered Americans. “We must re-examine every single alien who entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden,” Trump declared in a video message filmed at the White House. “If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them.”

He went further, calling Afghanistan “a hellhole on earth” and accusing the Biden administration of “importing danger.”

“This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” Trump said, adding that the suspect’s “status was extended under legislation signed by President Biden.”

More than 75,000 Afghans were admitted to the U.S. following the Taliban’s 2021 takeover — many of them allies who worked with American forces. Critics now say Trump’s remarks risk demonizing that population, which has already faced resettlement struggles and xenophobic backlash.

“The vast majority of these families risked their lives for the U.S. military,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “To use one alleged act of violence as justification for mass suspicion is morally wrong and fundamentally un-American.”

Security experts note that early reports suggest the D.C. shooting suspect may have been part of a covert intelligence program during the war — one that involved cooperation with U.S. agencies. “If that’s true, the story isn’t about refugees — it’s about how America handled its assets after the withdrawal,” said Michael Morelli, a former CIA field officer who served in Kabul.

As the political firestorm grew, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security faced mounting criticism over a series of federal immigration raids across Southern California.

At a tense congressional hearing in Los Angeles on Monday, immigrants, local leaders, and civil rights advocates described brutal ICE and Border Patrol tactics — including masked agents tackling people in their homes, detaining them without food or water, and separating families for months.

“I haven’t seen my husband since his arrest in June,” testified one woman, sobbing as she recalled her children watching agents break down their door. Another detainee said he fell ill in custody and was denied medical care.

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson blasted the raids as “racial profiling in broad daylight,” while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called for a federal investigation.

“This is not about safety — it’s about fear,” Bass said. “And we won’t let fear define who we are.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, issued a direct warning to the Trump administration: “We are watching you.”

Homeland Security officials defended the operations, claiming they targeted “undocumented immigrants with violent criminal histories.” Yet multiple witnesses said peaceful residents with no records were detained.

According to DHS figures, about 9,000 people have been arrested in the Los Angeles area since June — a scale civil rights groups called “unprecedented.”

The American Civil Liberties Union announced plans to file lawsuits challenging what it described as “a pattern of unlawful and politically motivated enforcement.”

“This is the kind of country we warned about — one where political fear drives immigration policy instead of facts,” said Marisol Sanchez, director of the California Immigrant Rights Project.

With the 2025 political climate already polarized, the D.C. shooting and California raids have reignited America’s most volatile debate: national security versus civil rights.

As one Afghan-American community leader in Virginia told CNN, “We’re being made scapegoats for Washington’s failures — again. But we’re not the enemy. We’re Americans too.”

Source: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, and CNN reports (Nov. 2025).