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Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., accused the Trump administration of taking “its eye off the ball” on public safety following the Washington, D.C., shooting on Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, two West Virginia National Guard members were critically wounded in the shooting just blocks from the White House. Authorities said the attack appeared to be targeted, and the FBI is investigating it as a possible act of terrorism.
While appearing on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” Walkinshaw was asked about whether the recent shooting changed his thoughts about the safety of National Guard officers deployed in the city.
Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., criticized the Trump administration’s plan on public safety. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Well, look, obviously, as I said, most of us certainly on the Democratic side in Congress don‘t think we should have National Guardsmen and women in our cities,” Walkinshaw said. “But if that‘s going to happen and when that‘s going to happen, I think it‘s incumbent upon the administration to lay out a clear plan to ensure their protection. And one of my concerns that I intend to raise as a new member of the Homeland Security Committee is the way in which the Trump administration has taken its eye off the ball in a lot of critical public safety areas and shifted resources to their mass deportation efforts.”
He continued, “So they‘re shifting resources away from illegal gun trafficking, from transnational crime, from anti-terrorism, both domestic and foreign. And they need to get their eyes back on the ball and focus on keeping all of us here in the United States of America safe.”
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National Guard soldiers gather after two fellow troop members were shot, Wednesday, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)
Walkinshaw reiterated that he still does not believe National Guard members are needed in the city and urged the Trump administration to redirect those resources elsewhere.
“There are a lot of things that the federal government could do to help keep Washington, D.C., safe, and other cities across the country safe,” Walkinshaw said. “I mentioned some of those things. They could do more, much more to crack down on illegal gun trafficking. They could do much more to prevent human trafficking and child sex trafficking. They‘re taking their eyes off of that ball. I think that‘s a better use of the federal resources than National Guardsmen and women in American cities, including the District of Columbia.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
The suspect in the shooting is an Afghan national. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Law enforcement sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that the gunman accused of shooting the National Guard members is 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who entered the country in 2021.
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