Washington, DC [US], November 30 (ANI): The Afghan national arrested a day before the Wednesday shooting near the White House has been charged at the state level with making a terrorist threat in Texas, Fox News reported.
The 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 that he was building a bomb with the intent to target a building in the Fort Worth area of Texas.
Alokozay migrated to the United States under “Operation Allies Welcome” during President Joe Biden’s tenure following the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Notably, suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who is being charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting two National Guard members near the White House, also migrated to the U.S. in 2021 under the same program.
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. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has since lodged a detainer on Alokozay following his arrest.
His arrest this week came a day after the shooting near the White House that killed one of the two National Guard members in Washington, DC. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died from her injuries, while the second Guard member remains hospitalized.
Lakanwal, the Afghan national accused of carrying out the shooting, will be charged with first-degree murder, according to the Washington Post. U.S. Attorney for Washington, DC, Jeanine Pirro said additional charges are likely to follow against Lakanwal.
The Washington Post also reported that the upgraded charge of first-degree murder, rather than the initial assault charge, raises the possibility that the suspected attacker could face the death penalty. Although capital punishment has been abolished in the District of Columbia, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday 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, U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that his administration would seek capital punishment in every murder case that occurred in Washington, DC.
Meanwhile, Trump said on Friday that he would permanently pause migration from all “third-world countries” to allow the U.S. system to halt illegal admissions into the country. (ANI)
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