Washington, DC [US], November 30 (ANI): The Afghan national, who was arrested a day before the Wednesday shooting near White House, has been charged at the state level with making a terrorist threat in Texas, Fox News reported.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News that Mohammad Dawood Alokozay was taken into custody on Tuesday after he posted a video on TikTok allegedly indicating he was building a bomb with the intent to target a building in the Fort Worth area in Texas.
Alokozay had migrated to the US under the “Operation Allies Welcome” during Joe Biden’s tenure, after the chaotic withdrawal of US forces in Afghanistan. Notably, suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal (29), being charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting two National Guard members near the White House, also migrated to the US in 2021 under the same programme.
Alokozay was arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety and an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in a coordinated law enforcement effort, Fox News reported, adding that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has since lodged a detainer on Alokozay following his arrest.
His arrest this week came a day after the Wednesday shooting near White House that killed one of the two National Guard members in Washington, DC. One of them (Spec. Sarah Beckstrom) has died, while the other remains wounded.
Lakanwal, the Afghan national accused of carrying out the shooting, will be charged with first-degree murder, the Washington Post reported earlier. Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for Washington, DC, said that more counts are likely to follow against suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
The Washington Post reported that the upgraded charges of first-degree murder, instead of the initial charges of assault, raise the possibility for the suspected attacker to face the death penalty in the case.
Although capital punishment has been abolished in the District of Columbia, Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday said she will seek the death penalty against the man accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington, the Hill reported.
In August, US president Donald Trump had asserted that his government would seek capital punishment in every murder case that occurred in Washington, DC.
Meanwhile, Trump on Friday said that he would permanently pause migration from all “third-world countries” to allow the US system to terminate illegal admissions into the United States. (ANI)
ICE issues detainer on Afghan national charged with making terrorist threat
Washington, DC [US], November 30 (ANI): Following the arrest of an Afghan national in connection with a security scare in Texas, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a detainer on accused Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, who has been charged at the state level with making a terrorist threat.
The immigration detainer issued by ICE is basically a formal request to a law enforcement agency or prison facility that has custody of a “removable alien” to notify the former before releasing the individual.
The detainer request allows ICE to take lawful custody of the “removable alien” before their release in a controlled environment, rather than making an at-large arrest.
Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said that Alokozay had posted a video of himself on TikTok, allegedly indicating he was building a bomb with the intent to target a building in the Fort Worth area in Texas.
“Just one day before the Terrorist attack against our National Guard, another Afghan national who was paroled into the United States under Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome was arrested for threatening to blow up a building in Fort Worth,” McLaughlin said.
The DHS Assistant Secretary said that Alokozay was arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety and an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) on Tuesday and has been charged with making a terrorist threat.
“Mohammad Dawood Alokozay posted a video of himself on TikTok indicating he was building a bomb with an intended target of the Fort Worth area. He was arrested on Tuesday by the Texas Department of Public Safety and FBI JTTF and charged with making Terroristic Threats. ICE lodged a detainer,” she added.
Meanwhile, the DHS said that it “won’t let terrorists live” on US soil. The Homeland Security informed that it has “indefinitely stopped all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals” since the US won’t allow those who want to harm citizens here.
“Another Afghan refugee was arrested just 24 hours prior to the barbaric attack that killed Spc. Sarah Beckstrom in DC. Under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem, we have indefinitely stopped all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals and ALL asylum decisions. America will not provide sanctuary to those who want to harm our people,” DHS posted on X. (ANI)
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