Gold Star father blames Biden for targeted National Guard shooting by Afghan national

WASHINGTON, DC: The father of Staff Sgt Darin Taylor Hoover, Darin Hoover, blamed the Joe Biden administration after an Afghan national allegedly fatally shot 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and wounded 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe just a few blocks from the White House. Darin said the Washington, DC, attack directly resulted from the administration’s failed vetting of Afghan evacuees.

Darin’s son, Taylor, was one of 13 US service members killed in the Abbey Gate bombing during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

Darin Hoover says DC shooting is on 'feckless' Biden administration

Darin Hoover blamed the Joe Biden administration without holding back. “This is on the feckless Biden administration. We had no idea who was getting into this country because the Biden administration, especially the State Department run by Antony Blinken, didn’t do the work that was needed to vet all these people."

Hoover emphasized, “So many people put on the planes that got out initially, that we have no idea who they were.” He warned, “By doing this, all we got is men of fighting age that are most likely terrorists that are here in the homeland to do us all harm and take our beloved United States of America."

"Maybe if the Biden administration started the process earlier than the truncated timetable that they did, this could have all come out so much better, including all of our most precious men and women of our military coming home," Hoover noted.

He explained that Wednesday’s shooting, allegedly carried out by an Afghan national admitted during the withdrawal, confirms what he and other Gold Star parents feared — that many evacuees entered the US without proper screening.

“We had no idea who Biden put on those planes. None,” Hoover said. He told Fox News Digital that the shooting shows the consequences of the rushed evacuation are still unfolding on American soil.

Darin Hoover continues voicing outrage at Biden

Darin Hoover expressed outrage in 2024 when Joe Biden falsely claimed during a presidential debate that no US service members had died under his watch. “The rage, the absolute disgust that I got from hearing him say that — I started yelling back at the TV,” Hoover said. “He’s never acknowledged, not one time, any of our kids. He’s never said their names."

He added, “All 13 families got a canned letter. It looked like it was a photocopy. We’ve had absolutely nothing before, nothing since.” Hoover said, "[Biden] doesn’t want to deal with us, He knows that we’re in his face, but he doesn’t want to deal with us."

Federal officials say the investigation into the DC shooting remains active. Hoover promises to keep speaking out until the families of the Abbey Gate victims get answers and until the former administration accepts responsibility for what he sees as ongoing failures. “This isn’t going away,” he insisted. “We’re not going away.”

Authorities arrested 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal after he allegedly ambushed two West Virginia National Guardsmen near the White House.

Lakanwal entered the US in September 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, right after Kabul fell. He had worked with several US government agencies, including the CIA, as part of a partner force in Kandahar.

Former CIA Director John Ratcliffe shared, “The individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here. Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.”