https://cleverpeople.com/blog/view/148643/collective-punishment-of-immigrants-and-the-national-guard-shooter https://cleverpeople.com/blog/view/148643/collective-punishment-of-immigrants-and-the-national-guard-shooter Sun, 30 Nov 2025 18:09:52 -0500 https://cleverpeople.com/blog/view/148643/collective-punishment-of-immigrants-and-the-national-guard-shooter As soon as Trump learned the shooter of the two National Guard troops was an immigrant, the White Supremacist came out in him as he issued a deranged and hateful Thanksgiving rant about refugees and migrants. You can't blame and punish an entire group of people because of the actions of an individual, especially if they aren't the root cause of the problem.

As the facts come out, this was a failure of our government not in vetting migrants, but our lack of mental health services for everyone. The shooter worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, so he was thoroughly vetted by multiple federal agencies (USCIS, DHS, CIA, State Dept) on multiple occasions. This wasn't an immigration-related problem it was a mental health problem.

There is no telling the horrors the shooter witnessed while assisting the CIA as part of Zero Unit during a really fucked up war. He was married and had five young sons. After he arrived here, he started showing clear signs of severe depression and PTSD. In March of 2023, he suffered a mental breakdown and went downhill from there. The entire community noticed his troubled behavior, but nobody was able to get him the help he needed. The US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) even got involved, but was unable to help him as he switched between episodes of manic behavior and depression. He needed mental health services and medications. That in no way excuses what he did, but it certainly helps explain it.

Mental health resources are inaccessible for most people, and we have to fix that. Isolating people along racial lines or immigration status is not a solution to anything! Refugees from all countries deserve our help and compassion as they try to escape horrific conditions in their home countries. Many of those countries are unstable because our very own government (like the CIA) has intervened in an effort to choose their leaders.

The Supreme Court (through "Kavanaugh Stops") has ended the 4th Amendment protections to allow racial profiling. By Trump ending Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for Somalia and Haiti, that paints a target on the backs of all Black people who can be stopped and asked for their papers. As these White Supremacists clear out all of their targeted migrants, they will eventually use the surveillance and incarceration apparatus against all of their other enemies. Nobody is safe, because they'll target all minorities and voices of dissent. Trump and his racist cronies have got to go ASAP!

Here's more information on the shooter:
https://apnews.com/article/lakanwal-national-guard-shooting-suspect-afghan-5e5e9567d95a5d0ef806b714bb3ee3b7

]]> Gary Wright II