On November 26, 2025, two National Guard members deployed in Washington D.C, were attacked just 25 blocks from the White House. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, and U.S Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, were both shot in the head while on patrol near the intersection of l Street and 17th Street in Northwest Washington. The young service members were some of the 800 troops mobilized to D.C. by President Trump’s executive order on August 11, 2025. The Department of War‘s official website states, “Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital and vowed to make streets there safe again. The National Guard is now playing a big part in that effort, assisting both federal and local law enforcement personnel in enforcing existing laws and taking violent criminals off the streets.”
On November 27, the president announced Beckstrom’s death while on a phone call. The other victim, Wolfe, is reportedly still alive in the hospital and making advancements in his recovery. Trump said that he has invited the families of the service members, who both hail from West Virginia, to the White House.
The main suspect for the shooting, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, has now been formally charged with first-degree murder, along with assault with intent to kill while armed and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. He has since pleaded not guilty. Lakanwal was in the hospital when he made his first court appearance on Tuesday through a virtual video chat.
Before committing the crime, 29-year-old Lakanwal lived with his wife and five children in Bellingham, Washington. In April, he was granted asylum by the Trump administration after coming to the U.S. in 2021 under “Operation Allies Welcome.” This was a Biden-era program helping Afghans who aided the U.S in the long-winded Afghan War to the United States. Lakanwal had worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, participating in a secret unit that targeted the Taliban. After he shot the victims, multiple witnesses described hearing him shout “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is Great” in Arabic.
President Trump had a strong reaction to this shooting, condemning the event and vowing to escalate his anti-migrant policies, blaming former President Biden for Lakanwal’s presence in the U.S. He also announced 500 more National Guard members would be deployed to the nation’s capitol.
NBC News reported that USCIS director Joseph Edlow posted on Thursday the eleventh, “At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.” On top of this, Secretary of Defense Kristi Noem wrote on social media on Monday the eighth, “I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”
Trump has begun to strengthen restrictions for Afghans like Lakanwal and his family to become permanent legal residents in the United States. Additionally, the president verbally attacked Somalis last week, commenting specifically on the large refugee community in Minnesota. He referred to Somali politician Ilhan Omar as “garbage,” adding that Somalis should “go back to where they came from.”
Prominent republicans and democrats alike have denounced the violence on social media, showing a rare instance of bipartisanship and unity.
