Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the U.S. capital have been shot blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence that the mayor characterized as a targeted attack.

Authorities said that the National Guard members injured in the shooting were part of a "high-visibility patrol" near the White House.

New Yorker writer Jane Mayer faced backlash after criticizing the National Guard deployment following the shooting of two guardsmen in Washington, D.C.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Lakanwal “was one of the many unvetted, mass paroled into the United States,” repeating a long-cited criticism of many Republicans, who argue the withdrawal—and subsequent evacuation and resettling of the Afghan nationals—in 2021 was rushed.