Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old member of the West Virginia Army National Guard, tragically lost her life last month after being shot alongside another Guardsman near the White House.
WASHINGTON — In a gesture of respect, President Donald Trump has directed that flags at the White House be flown at half-staff on Thursday to honor Beckstrom. She was killed during a daytime shooting in Washington, D.C.
There’s no word yet on whether flags at other federal buildings will also be lowered in Beckstrom’s memory.
Beckstrom and another National Guard member were both victims of the shooting incident on November 26 near the White House. She succumbed to her injuries on Thanksgiving Day at the hospital, while her colleague, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition.
Following the incident, authorities arrested 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
The office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced that Lakanwal, an Afghan national and former CIA colleague during the Afghanistan War, is being charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.
He pled not guilty in court earlier this week, appearing before a judge remotely from the hospital, where he has been detained since the attack because of injuries sustained during his capture.
Trump called the shooting a “terrorist attack” and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the Afghanistan War to enter the U.S. The president has said he wants to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations and expel millions of immigrants from the country.
The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said in a post on the social platform X that asylum decisions will be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
