Solidarity, Concerns over Collective Blame and Ethnic Polarisation within the Afghan Diaspora after the D.C. Attack
Members of the Hazara community gathered at the site of the attack to show solidarity with the victims' families
On 1 December 2025, the Facebook page Donald Trump for President (with 6.8 million followers, which seems to have been run by the supporters of President Trump’s campaign since 2025) posted about members of the Hazara community in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area gathering at the site of the D.C. attack to express solidarity with families of the National Guard members. 1 The post said that the Hazara community members, who had “fled violence and persecution in Afghanistan,” conveyed a clear message that they “condemn all violence,” “stand for peaceful coexistence,” “support the families of the Guardsmen attacked” and affirm that violence “has no place in any society.”
This post appears to welcome the solidarity shown by members of the Hazara community in America following the 26 November D.C. attack, in which a 29-year-old Afghan national suspect allegedly shot two members of the West Virginia National Guard who had been deployed to D.C.2 One of the two members, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, died the following day, while the other, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, is reportedly showing signs of improvement from his critical injury. The post also seems to offer a rare acknowledgement of the persecution the Hazaras face in Afghanistan.
Members of the Hazara community did gather at the site of the attack on 30 November. Elham Jafari, a participant in this gathering, told Afghanistan International that they had assembled for a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of Sarah Beckstrom to show support for the victims’ families. Jafari said that they were particularly troubled by the fact that the attack was carried out by “an Afghanistani.” She also underscored the persecution the Hazaras face in their homeland, Afghanistan, noting they have no security or safety there. Another community member, Asif Ashna, shared the post mentioned above, commenting that the D.C. attack was “a painful reminder of the very violence and extremism that the Hazara people have endured for decades in Afghanistan.” He highlighted that the Hazaras “stood with the United States” and supported its efforts to promote democracy during its intervention in Afghanistan. He claimed that the Hazaras had “paid a heavy price for defending those values in our homeland.”
Earlier, on 28 November, the Hazara American Association (HAA) condemned the attack. The HAA urged policymakers and the public “not to allow this tragedy to justify collective blame, discriminatory measures, or barriers that would endanger vulnerable populations—particularly Hazaras, Afghan women, and civil society activists who continue to face targeted persecution and who align strongly with democratic values.” The HAA stressed that this “tragedy must be met with justice, compassion, and a steadfast commitment to ensuring the rights and dignity of all.”
Given the suspect’s nationality, there were immediate consequences for people from Afghanistan. Hours after the attack, President Donald Trump said, “We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden.” Following this, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced an indefinite halt to the “processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals.”
It seems that the Hazaras in America follow the following objectives: (1) to disassociate themselves from those committing violence; (2) to avoid collective blame following the D.C. attack; and (3) to draw attention to their unique vulnerability given the ethnic and religious persecution they face in Afghanistan and ensure that they are not categorised simply by nationality.
The persecution of the Hazaras in Afghanistan is further underscored by a motion accepted by the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament last week, which members of the Australian major parties consequently endorsed in their speeches. As Maley and Ibrahimi have highlighted, the motion provided that the House:
(1) acknowledges with deep concern the ongoing persecution and discrimination faced by the Hazara people and other ethnic religious minorities under the Taliban;
(2) calls for the protection of all minorities in Afghanistan, as well as women and girls, noting no part of Afghanistan or Afghan society has been immune from violence or persecution; and
(3) recognises the valuable contributions of Hazara Australians to the cultural, social and civic life of our nation, and acknowledges that these contributions extend well beyond their own community. (see this piece by William Maley and Niamatullah Ibrahimi here).
Concerns and polarisation among the broader Afghan community
Activists from the broader Afghan community also raised concerns about collective blame. For example, Ashraf Haidari, a former ambassador, president of Displaced International, and a distinguished fellow at the University of Arizona’s School of Politics and Global Studies, wrote for The Diplomat on 1 December, saying:
The victims and their families deserve justice. The suspect’s background and asylum case must be scrutinized carefully, as is already happening through official reviews of his immigration history and vetting and ongoing federal investigations into the attack. But justice for one man cannot become a pretext for injustice for a whole community.
The American public must choose: to let fear harden into collective blame, or to hold on to a basic democratic instinct – punish the individual who committed the crime, and refuse to condemn an entire people. The history of Jewish immigrants in America should stand as a warning.
However, the attack has also led to polarisation among the Afghan diaspora. Specifically, some non-Pashtuns launched an online campaign, “I am not Afghan,” seeking to draw distinctions among different ethnic groups and distance themselves from the nationality of the alleged perpetrator. They seem to connect this campaign to their long-standing contention that the term “Afghan” is synonymous with a specific ethnic group in Afghanistan—a topic I have discussed in “Afghanistan and Democratisation” in our book, Afghanistan and International Relations.
The following is the full text:
UPDATE: Hazara Community Shows Support for Our National Guard
Yesterday, members of the Hazara community in the DMV area gathered at the site of the D.C. attack to show solidarity with the families of the National Guard members who were targeted.
The Hazara community — many of whom fled violence and persecution in Afghanistan — made it clear:
✔️ They condemn all violence
✔️ They stand for peaceful coexistence
✔️ They support the families of the Guardsmen attacked
✔️ Violence “has no place in any society,” no exceptions
Organizers also thanked law enforcement for their professionalism and support throughout the event.
A rare moment of unity in a time when the country needs it the most.