National Guard shooting 'act of evil,' Trump says; suspect ID'd as Afghan national, One Dead, Second Fighting for Life
by Amy Furr, Breitbart.com, November 28, 2025
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that one of the National Guardsmen attacked in Washington, DC, on Wednesday has died.
“I must unfortunately tell you that just seconds before I went on, right now I heard that Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about, highly respected, young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023, outstanding in every way, she’s just passed away. She’s no longer with us.”
The other Guard member, 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, is still in critical condition.The man accused of attacking Beckstrom and a fellow guardsman Wolfe, just a few blocks from the White House, was identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal who drove from Washington State to target the guard members, was taken into custody following the attack.
In an address Wednesday night, President Donald Trump called the shooting "an act of evil, an act of hatred and and an act of terror," adding, "It was a crime against our entire nation."
Trump, citing information from the Department of Homeland Security, said the suspect entered the U.S. from Afghanistan in September 2021, and criticized the prior administration of President Joe Biden.
Trump said the shooting "underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation," saying the U.S. "must now reexamine every single alien from Afghanistan who has entered our country 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."
.@POTUS: "My great fellow Americans, earlier today on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, two members of the National Guard serving in Washington, D.C. were shot at point blank range in a monstrous, ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House... This heinous assault… pic.twitter.com/3nmv426LRq
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 27, 2025
Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted asylum in April 2025, under the Trump administration, according to three law enforcement sources.
In a post on social media shortly after Trump's remarks, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the "processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols."
Several sources told ABC News that the FBI is investigating the shooting as a potential act of international terrorism, suggesting authorities are trying to determine if it may have been inspired by an international terrorist organization.
Trump admin vows ‘rigorous reexamination’ of every green card holder from countries ‘of concern’
The Trump administration announced it will pursue a “full-scale, rigorous reexamination” of every green card holder from countries “of concern” in response to the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, DC.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow claimed President Trump had requested the gargantuan review, which is expected to encompass green card holders from at least 19 countries.
National Guard shooting suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, had entered the US in 2021 from Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal as part of the “Operation Allies Welcome” program.
“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies. American safety is non negotiable,” Edlow posted on X.
A spokesperson suggested the countries “of concern” include the 19 mentioned in Trump’s June executive order to safeguard Americans from foreign terrorists: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Green cards allow foreign migrants to have permanent residency and the right to work within the US.
Over 190,000 Afghans were resettled into the US after the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, per State Department data.
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