National, Regional and Local News

[dryrunguy]

She will be free in a few days. Leavitt will see to it.

I don't know... Maybe the Leavitts put her there... Can we rule that out? Maybe the brother is tired of his wife and wants the son to himself... It's not clear to me that the brother and his wife are really together.

[ti-amie]

2 National Guard members in critical condition; D.C. shooting suspect is an Afghan national
Updated
November 26, 2025 at 9:34 p.m. EST 1 min ago

Two West Virginia National Guard members were in critical condition Wednesday after they were shot just outside the White House complex in downtown Washington in what officials said appeared to be a targeted attack.

The suspected shooter has been identified as an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 and at some point lived in Washington state, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. Two of those people said the suspect was Rahmanullah Lakanwal.

The suspect, who was also shot, was taken into custody, Jeffery Carroll, executive assistant chief with the D.C. police, told reporters at a news conference. He described the person as a “lone gunman” who “ambushed” the Guard members.

Carroll declined to comment on a suspected motive.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) initially said both Guard members were killed, but he later said he was getting “conflicting reports” about their condition.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, told reporters that President Donald Trump requested a deployment of 500 additional Guard troops to Washington after news of the shooting.

Alex Horton

Matt Zeller, a former Army officer who served in Afghanistan and co-founded No One Left Behind, an organization to resettle Afghan allies in the country, condemned the shooting as a tragedy and a heinous attack. He urged Americans not to turn against those who stood beside U.S. forces: “Hundreds of thousands of Afghans served honorably shoulder to shoulder with American military members throughout the duration of the Afghan war … Don’t allow those who seek to divide us to win.”

https://wapo.st/49ItGwi

[ponchi101]

Won't matter. More fodder for the hatred.

[skatingfan]

[dryrunguy]

Both the NY Times and Associated Press have posted articles with web banners stating "Two National Guard Members Shot Dead in Washington, DC". Except they're not dead. Yet. They're in critical condition. And each article linked to each of those banners state the same thing... Critical condition. Not dead. Really unfortunate stuff.

[ti-amie]

National guard member Sarah Beckstrom has died after shooting in Washington DC, Trump announces
One other member of the guards, Andrew Wolfe, is still fighting for his life, according to the president
Guardian staff and agencies
Thu 27 Nov 2025 18.55 EST

National guard member Sarah Beckstrom has died after shooting in Washington DC, Trump announces

One other member of the guards, Andrew Wolfe, is still fighting for his life, according to the president
Guardian staff and agencies
Thu 27 Nov 2025 18.55 EST

Sarah Beckstrom, one of the national guard troops shot in Washington DC on Wednesday, has died, Donald Trump said on Thursday.

“Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about, highly respected, young, magnificent person … She’s just passed away. She’s no longer with us,” Trump said in his first live remarks since the shooting.

Beckstrom, 20, was one of two members of the national guards shot near the White House in a targeted attack. The other member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still fighting for his life, according to the president.

Beckstrom’s father had told the New York Times in a phone call earlier in the day that his daughter was unlikely to recover. “I’m holding her hand right now,” Gary Beckstrom said. “She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery.”

Both Beckstrom and Wolfe belonged to the West Virginia National Guard, which deployed hundreds of troops to Washington as part of Trump’s crime-fighting mission in the capital.

On Thursday, West Virginia’s governor, Patrick Morrisey, confirmed Beckstrom’s death in a social media post: “Sarah served with courage, extraordinary resolve, and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation. She answered the call to serve, stepped forward willingly, and carried out her mission with the strength and character that define the very best of the West Virginia National Guard.”

Beckstrom, from Webster Springs, West Virginia, entered service in June 2023.

Authorities have identified the suspect in the attack as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29.

Little is known yet about his life, but officials have confirmed that Lakanwal came to the US in September 2021 from his native Afghanistan under a program that gave some Afghans who had worked for the US government entry visas. He was granted asylum in April this year, under the Trump administration, Reuters reported. Lakanwal worked with CIA-backed military units during the US war in Afghanistan, the CIA has confirmed.

A resident of eastern Afghanistan who identified himself as Lakanwal’s cousin told the Associated Press that he was originally from the province of Khost. The cousin, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said Lakanwal had worked in a special Afghan Army unit.

A former official from the unit, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said Lakanwal was a team leader and his brother was a platoon leader.

The cousin said Lakanwal started out working as a security guard for the unit in 2012, and was later promoted to become a team leader and a GPS specialist.

Lakanwal’s former landlord, Kristina Widman, said Lakanwal had been living in Washington state with his wife and five children.

Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for Washington DC, said at a news conference Thursday that Lakanwal drove across the country to launch an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver.

The suspect shot one guard member twice before turning to fire at the second, Pirro said. Other national guard members at the scene had engaged and neutralized the suspect, she added

Pirro said the suspect would be charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. However, if the national guard members did not survive, Pirro said, the charges could be increased to murder in the first degree.

The FBI director, Kash Patel, told the news conference the agency is investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. Law enforcement agencies had executed search warrants at the suspect’s home in Washington and in San Diego, California.

Investigators have no information yet on a motive, but believe Lakanwal acted alone.

Lakenwal was one of roughly 76,000 Afghans brought to the US through the resettlement program, many of whom worked alongside US troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators.

Supporters have said candidates were extensively vetted. But the initiative has drawn intense criticism from Trump and other Republicans over what they have argued are gaps in the vetting process and the speed of admissions.

Shortly after the shooting, Trump was quick to cast the blame on the Biden administration, accusing it of failing to properly vet migrants from Afghanistan. And he indicated he considered the attack justification for a broad review of asylum and green card applications.

“We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country,” Trump said on Wednesday. “If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them.”

The leaders of several federal agencies have promised immigration reviews. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said that it has stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it was expanding that directive to include a review of all asylum cases approved under the Biden administration. DHS did not clarify whether it is reviewing all asylum cases from only Afghanistan or from other countries, as well.

The USCIS director, Joseph Edlow, later added he was also directing a “full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern” at Trump’s request. When asked what countries were considered “of concern,” USCIS pointed at Trump’s executive order restricted the entry to the US of nationals of 19 countries.

Soon after the shooting, Trump said he would send 500 more National Guard troops to Washington DC. It’s not clear where the additional troops would come from.

As of early November, the D.C. National Guard had the largest number on the ground, with 949 members. In addition to West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama also had forces in the capital early this month.

A federal judge last week ordered an end to the Guard deployment but also put her order on hold for 21 days to allow the Trump administration time to either remove the troops or appeal.

With the Associated Press

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... -announces

[ti-amie]

Aaron Rupar
‪@atrupar.com‬
Trump during his Thanksgiving call with service members: "We're ordered a lot of Coast Guard cutters. Brand new, beautiful, the best machines in the world. I'm a looks person. I wanted the hull to be perfect. You know, I sort of redesigned the hull a little bit. The hulls. But we ordered a lot."

video at the link
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m6nousl76s2u

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

‪Aaron Rupar‬
‪@atrupar.com‬
· 1h
Q: Officials say the suspect in the DC shooting was vetted & it came up clean

TRUMP: He went cuckoo. He went nuts. There was no vetting

Q: Actually, your DOJ IG says there was thorough vetting of Afghans. So why blame Biden?

TRUMP: You're just asking questions because you're a stupid person

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m6nnmy5kzv2q (video)

[ti-amie]