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Afghan Evacuee Added to CIS National Security Vetting Failures Database

Published

6 months ago

8 minute read

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi displaying a pro-ISIS hand gesture common among ISIS militants. He posted this photo on a Tik Tok account while in Oklahoma, resulting in an account ban. Photo courtesy of an FBI complaint filed as part of his criminal court case.

From the Center for Immigration Studies

By Todd Bensman

Former CIA guard is charged with terrorism; assurances that he was vetted turn out to be untrue

An Afghan evacuee from the August 2021 fall of Kabul who stands charged with multiple terrorism offenses that include a mass-casualty firearms attack plot is the latest addition to the Center for Immigration Studies National Security Vetting Failures Database, bringing the total number of cases to 49.

In March 2023, the Center published the database collection to draw “remedial attention” to ongoing government vetting failures lest they “drift from the public mind and interest of lawmakers, oversight committee members, media, and homeland security practitioners who would otherwise feel compelled to demand process reforms”, according to an explanatory Center report titled “Learning from our Mistakes”.

The latest addition is Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, who worked in Afghanistan as an outside guard for a Central Intelligence Agency facility and was authorized for air evacuation from a third country a month after the August 2021 fall of Kabul to Dallas, Texas, on a hastily approved humanitarian parole.

He was among nearly 100,000 mostly Afghan evacuees, of whom about 77,000 were initially admitted into the United States via humanitarian parole through a program called Operation Allies Welcome. All became eligible for more permanent Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) mainly intended to protect Afghans who collaborated with U.S. military operations from reprisals by the Taliban group that seized control of the country.

After arriving in the United States on September 9, 2021, on humanitarian parole, Tawhedi settled with his wife and infant near Oklahoma City on an SIV. He initially worked as a Lyft driver in Dallas and later as an auto mechanic in Oklahoma.

Some 37 months after arriving, in October 2024, the FBI arrested the 27-year-old Tawhedi and a juvenile co-conspirator — Tawhedi’s brother-in-law — for an alleged plot to conduct an Election Day terrorist firearms attack in the United States on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization still active in Afghanistan. The unidentified co-conspirator, an Afghan, entered the United States in 2018 also on an SIV, but little else is known about his vetting processes.

Their plot involved liquidating a house and personal assets to fund the repatriation of Tawhedi’s wife and child to Afghanistan and weapons necessary for him and the juvenile to conduct a mass-casualty attack during which they would be killed, a criminal complaint alleged. The pair obtained semi-automatic rifles and ammunition for the attack, although by then FBI undercover agents had penetrated the plot.

Shortly after the arrests, U.S. government officials claimed that Tawhedi was “thoroughly” vetted three times: first to work for the CIA in Afghanistan, then “recurrently” by DHS for the humanitarian parole status allowing him to fly into the United States, and then for the Special Immigrant Visa once he was settled, probably sometime in 2022.

No red flags turned up, they asserted, without providing evidence.

“Afghan evacuees who sought to enter the United States were subject to multilayered screening and vetting against intelligence, law enforcement and counterterrorism information. If new information emerges after arrival, appropriate action is taken,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital in October 2024.

But within weeks of making those assertions, U.S. officials reversed course and acknowledged that Tawhedi did not undergo the previously claimed vetting. The State Department, in fact, never vetted or approved Tawhedi, nor had he been very thoroughly vetted for his CIA guard post job in Afghanistan, they said. DHS did not “thoroughly” vet Tawhedi for humanitarian parole on a recurring basis as initially claimed about all Afghan evacuees, either, before allowing him to fly from the unknown third country into the United States.

The screening process for Afghan evacuees in the program includes probing for any possible ties to terrorism, ISIS, or the Taliban using databases the U.S. compiled over 20 years in Afghanistan that include data from applicant electronic devices, biometrics, and other sources.

It’s unclear when Tawhedin radicalized in ways that might have been detected. U.S. officials initially told U.S. media they believed that happened only after he was admitted into the United States. In court records, the FBI says Tawhedi’s initial crime — sending $540 in cryptocurrency to ISIS — occurred in March 2024. But his ties and extremist proclivities almost certainly predated the currency transfer.

Had Tawhedi been thoroughly vetting when he was supposed to be, red flags were more likely than not available to be found both before and after he arrived in the U.S.

For instance, adjudicators might have found pre-existing extremist ideological proclivities within Tawhedi’s immediate family because two brothers evacuated to France also were arrested in September 2024 for a terrorism plot there to attack a French soccer match or shopping center, according to numerous media accounts and information that surfaced during an October 2024 Oklahoma City federal court hearing. (The French and Americans collaborated on both cases).

Furthermore, court records reveal that Tawhedi maintained relationships with well-known ISIS figures that were sufficiently trusting to have enabled direct communications with them by phone and on encrypted apps.

In fact, Tawhedi trusted these operatives to care for his repatriated wife and child after he was killed in the U.S. attack and to gift substantial remaining funds from the sale of the Oklahoma house. Lastly, an FBI investigator in the October 2024 court complaint indicated that most extended family members in Tawhedi’s Oklahoma circle were aware of the plot, approved, and could still be charged as co-conspirators as of that time.

The fact that many family members in the U.S. and abroad felt this way about Tawhedi’s plans further indicates that their extremism pre-dated U.S. entry and might have red-flagged during face-to-face interviews, database checks, and other standard security vetting practices.

Underscoring the admitted Tawhedi vetting failure, a September 2022 DHS Office of Inspector General report found, in part, that U.S. Customs and Border Protection “admitted or paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United States” and that, “As a result, DHS may have admitted or paroled individuals into the United States who pose a risk to national security and the safety of local communities.”

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Crime

Manhunt on for suspect in shooting deaths of Minnesota House speaker, husband

Published on June 15, 2025

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Vance Luther Boelter, wanted in the murders of former Minnesota House speaker and her husband, shown in image from video Saturday.

From The Center Square

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Second lawmaker, his wife also shot; suspect remains at large

Two Minnesota state lawmakers who are members of the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party were shot early Saturday by a person posing as a law enforcement officer just north of Minneapolis.

House Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in what Gov. Tim Walz called a politically-motivated assassination. The suspect, identified as Vance Boelter, 57, remains at large and a manhunt is ongoing. Authorities said he no longer is in the area of the shootings.

 

Gov. Walz on Shooting of Minnesota Legislators: ‘An Unspeakable Tragedy’. 6/14/25

Source: Minnesota Department of Public Safety

“My good friend and colleague, Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, were shot and killed early this morning in what appears to be a politically-motivated assassination,” Walz said at a news conference. “Our state lost a great leader, and I lost a dearest of friends.”

State Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and his wife also were shot about 2 a.m., and Hortman and her husband were found about 90 minutes later.

Walz said the Hoffmans were each shot multiple times but he was hopeful for their recovery.

Law enforcement issued a shelter-in-place order for an area around Edinburgh Course that continued into the hours Saturday but has since been lifted. The suspect was seen wearing blue pants, a blue shirt, body armor, and reportedly driving a dark SUV with lights meant to make it appear like a police vehicle.

The suspect, Boelter, was appointed by Walz to serve on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in 2019. Various media outlets reported that he is the director of Praetorian Guard Security Services, where he had access to police-like security equipment. Media outlets also reported that Boelter had a list of about 70 names in his vehicle which included the lawmakers who were shot, other lawmakers and abortion providers.

State officials are encouraging residents to not attend “No Kings” protests at the state capitol and across Minnesota. “No Kings” flyers were found in the suspect’s vehicle, law enforcement said.

FNF The scene near a shooting of Minnesota lawmakers
Law enforcement at the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis

J.D. Davidson | The Center Square

The “suspect exploited the trust of our uniforms, what our uniforms are meant to represent,” Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said. “That betrayal is deeply disturbing to those of us who wear the badge with honor and responsibility.”

According to authorities, the gunman allegedly escaped through a back door of Hortman’s house following an exchange of gunfire with police.

President Donald Trump also released a statement on X, posted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the FBI are investigating the situation, and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law,” Trump said. “Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!”

The FBI said it is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Boelter.

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Saturday that officers arrived at the Hortman residence as part of a routine check on lawmakers in the area and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who managed to flee.

Brooklyn Park Police Chief Burley said officers knocked on the Hortmans door and were met by what appeared to be a police officer wearing police gear, a gun, a taser and a badge. Officers and the suspect exchanged gunfire in the home before the suspect fled out the rear of the house.

Burley also said the suspect was driving an SUV that looked like a police vehicle with lights. The car was impounded, and Burley said the suspect is on foot. He  encouraged citizens to not answer the door for police officers and instructed Brooklyn Park police officers to not approach citizens alone, only in groups of two or more.

Burley said several people have been detained, and police are looking for others of interest.

Burley said a manifesto was found in the suspect’s vehicle that identified several other lawmakers. Both Hoffman and Hortman were on the list of people found in the car, Evans said.

Life-saving efforts were given to the Hortmans at the scene, Evans said.

“This was an act of targeted political violence. Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy.We don’t settle our differences with violence at gun point. We must all stand against political violence,” Walz, also a DFL party member, said. “This tragic act in Minnesota should serve as a reminder that democracy and debate is a the way to settle our differences and move to a better place.”

The shootings happened seven miles away from each other, and law enforcement officials have called both shootings “targeted.”

Law enforcement was dispatched to the homes of several other state lawmakers – both Democrats and Republicans – in the Twin Cities area for protection overnight. Those lawmakers were told not to answer the door if an officer comes to it, but confirm with 911 before answering.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuhar, D-Minn., was shocked by the news.

“This is a stunning act of violence. I’m thankful for all the law enforcement who are responding in real time. My prayers are with the Hortman and Hoffman families. Both legislators are close friends and devoted to their families and public service,” Klobuchar said on social media.

Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, called the shootings evil and asked for prayers.

“I am shocked and horrified by the evil attack that took place overnight. Please lift up in prayer the victims along with the law enforcement personal working to apprehend the perpetrator,” Demuth said on social media.

Walz activated the state emergency operations center early Saturday.

Hoffman was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and currently chairs the Human Services Committee.

Hortman was first elected in 2002 and was elected as speaker of the house in 2018. She is the current speaker emeritus.

She was also one of four DFL members to break with the party Monday and join Republicans to pass a state budget and end state health care services for noncitizens after a long and contentious special session.

The initial budget vote ended in a tie, before Hortman and three other DFL members broke ranks and joined Republicans to pass the legislation.

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conflict

One dead, over 60 injured after Iranian missiles pierce Iron Dome

Published on June 14, 2025

By

MXM logo MxM News 

Quick Hit:

Iran launched four waves of missile attacks Friday night, breaching Israel’s defenses and killing at least one person. Over 60 others were injured, with the IDF confirming direct strikes on civilian areas in Tel Aviv and central Israel.

Key Details:

  • The Israel Defense Forces reported four rounds of Iranian missile fire, with at least ten missiles making impact inside Israel.

  • One person was killed and 63 wounded, including several in critical condition, according to The Jerusalem Post.

  • The IDF said Iran deliberately targeted civilians, contrasting its own earlier strikes that focused on Iranian military assets.

Diving Deeper:

Several Iranian missiles broke through Israel’s air defenses during Friday night’s attack, striking Tel Aviv and other civilian areas. According to The Jerusalem Post, at least 63 people were wounded and one person was killed after four waves of Iranian ballistic missile strikes hit cities across Israel.

The IDF reportedly said roughly 100 missiles were fired in total. While the Iron Dome intercepted many, multiple missiles made it through and exploded in densely populated areas. Dramatic video showed a missile striking near downtown Tel Aviv, sending fire and debris into the air as people ran for cover.

Army Radio confirmed that ten missiles landed inside Israel between the first two waves. By the time the third and fourth waves hit, injuries had climbed sharply, with several listed in critical condition. The one fatality was reported late Friday night.

The Israeli Home Front Command temporarily allowed civilians to exit shelters but quickly reversed that guidance, urging residents to stay near protected areas amid fears of further attacks.

The IDF emphasized the nature of the targets, calling out Iran for targeting civilians. The IDF also released maps showing where air raid sirens were triggered throughout the night. Though Israel’s Home Front Command briefly allowed civilians to exit shelters, it advised them to remain nearby in case of continued strikes. As of late Friday, Iranian officials claimed a fifth wave could follow.

With tensions still high, Israeli defense officials are preparing for potential further escalation—and weighing how to respond to a direct Iranian attack on civilians.

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