Last Thursday morning, an ISIS-supporting Islamic terrorist walked into a classroom at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, confirmed he had found the ROTC class, then shouted “Allahu Akbar” and opened fire. Lt. Col. Brandon Shah was murdered. Two other cadets were injured. The attacker — Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Army National Guardsman and now radicalized jihadi terrorist — was previously convicted of providing material support to ISIS. When he walked into that gun-free zone, he criminally intended to kill American soldiers-in-training on our own soil.
Let&#8217;s call this act for what it is: an act of domestic, Islamic terrorism from a naturalized, radicalized jihadi whom President Biden’s DOJ should have already denaturalized and deported upon his felony conviction of “providing material support to ISIS” a.k.a. treason. They failed, and another American hero is dead.
Remarkably, Lt. Col. Brandon Shah’s cadets — the ones he trained to defend America — notched their first confirmed kill of an enemy combatant when they rushed the attacker and neutralized him. FBI Special Agent in Charge Dominique Evans <a href="https://northernvirginiamag.com/news/2026/03/13/old-dominion-university-shooter-was-a-former-national-guard-member-from-sterling/">confirmed</a> that ROTC students neutralized the attacker. &#8220;If not for them,&#8221; Evans said, &#8220;I&#8217;m not sure what else he may have done.&#8221; I know what else he would have done — continued killing students until a good guy with a gun showed up and put a hole in the bad guy with a gun.
Mr. President, these are our people. Future officers in the Army you command. Our soldiers, unarmed by university policy, were sitting ducks in a classroom when an Islamic jihadist walked in and opened fire on our military, in our country. Under fire, the unarmed cadets took action against the enemy. In an active shooting, the FBI says to Run. Hide. Fight. These cadets skipped those first two options and chose to fight — and then went Old Testament on him. Talk about winning one for the Gipper.
Lt. Col. Shah was a combat aviator with two Bronze Star Medals and an Air Medal with Valor who returned to his alma mater to build our next generation of Army officers. He was exceptional at it. The proof is in what his cadets did when the moment arrived. No one ordered them to move. No one had time to. They did exactly what Lt. Col. Shah trained them to do: they acted. They moved toward the threat, absorbed the chaos, neutralized him, and stopped the killing — all within ten minutes of the first 911 phone call reporting the shooting. They showed us what true bravery looks like against radical Islamic terrorist threats in America.
I am asking you, as a Virginia legislator and as an American, to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Old Dominion University ROTC cadets who stopped Mohamed Bailor Jalloh — and to honor Lt. Col. Brandon Shah posthumously with every distinction a grateful nation can offer a fallen officer. Let the country see, without ambiguity, who its heroes are: those who stand up and fight to take down terrorism, both foreign and domestic.
We live in a moment deeply confused about courage. The institutions that produce people like these cadets are under constant pressure to apologize for their existence. This is our moment to say “no” — we will not apologize for our pride and patriotism for our country and Commonwealth. These young men and women did not ask to be tested on March 12, but a terrorist walked into their classroom and made that choice for them. They responded heroically, the way every American soldier is trained to respond — with discipline, with ferocity, and without pause.
Lt. Col. Shah taught his cadets that American soldiers move toward the threat, not away. When called upon to neutralize a present enemy threat, these cadets proved they were ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country. They are worthy of your Medal of Freedom. Lt. Col. Shah is worthy of distinguished honors befitting an officer of his rank and merit. I ask that you please honor each of them with such distinctions.
* * *
Del. Wren Williams represents Virginia’s 47th House District (Patrick County and surrounding area). He is an attorney and a member of the House Republican Caucus.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Why President Trump Should Give The Old Dominion Cadets The Medal Of Freedom