Two Middle Eastern men accused of shooting a Texas youth baseball coach during a pregame prayer were handed immigration status by the Biden administration, The Daily Wire has learned.
Three men opened fire on the Ameripark youth baseball field in Katy, Texas, on Sunday from a nearby pasture, shooting the coach in the shoulder, according to the Waller County Sheriff’s office. The three suspects — Mahmood Abdelsalam Rababah, 23, Ahmad Mawed, 21, and Mustafa Mohammad Matalgah, 27 — have been charged with deadly conduct and are each being held on $100,000 bond.
Mohammad Matalgah of Jordan was given American citizenship on Aug. 1, 2023, despite having prior arrests for drug possession, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire. Mawed, a Lebanese immigrant, entered the United States on an IR-2 visa — which is given to children of American citizens — on June 3, 2021, automatically granting him a green card.
“This horrific act of terror firing on children praying before the start of a baseball game is pure evil,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “These individuals from high threat countries were let in by Biden. They clearly were not vetting the aliens they were letting legally enter our country and even become U.S. citizens.”
“Not only did Biden fail the American people by leaving our borders wide open to criminals, but he also legally allowed them to gain status and citizenship to terrorize our communities,” she said.
The motive for the attack is unclear.
The Trump administration has been cracking down on immigrant crime with its mass deportation sweeps across the country. President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has also commenced an audit of the legal immigration system with an effort to denaturalize new citizens who may “pose a potential danger to national security.”
The injured coach, whose name has not been released, was airlifted to a nearby hospital and has since been discharged, according to the sheriff’s office.
Dramatic video of the attack showed bullets raining down as the young players ran for cover.
The team’s founder, Andy Baize, told KHOU that the injured coach took a bullet to protect the children.
“He literally took the bullet for a child that was to his left and so thankfully we avoided a major disaster, still very very emotional over it,” said Baize.
“When he was struck by the bullet, his first reaction was to get down to the ground, cover his kids and get them to a safe space,” he added.
