WASHINGTON (AP) — Expenses in opposition to the person accused of capturing two Nationwide Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree homicide after one of many troopers died, the U.S. lawyer for the District of Columbia introduced Friday, whereas investigators continued to hunt a motive.
Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Workers Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, had been hospitalized in crucial situation after the Wednesday afternoon capturing close to the White Home. President Donald Trump introduced Thursday night that Beckstrom had died.
U.S. Legal professional Jeanine Pirro’s workplace mentioned the fees in opposition to Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan nationwide who labored with the CIA in the course of the Afghanistan Struggle, now embrace one rely of first-degree homicide and two counts of assault with intent to kill whereas armed.
The Trump administration mentioned Friday it’s halting all asylum choices and has additionally paused issuing visas for folks touring on Afghan passports.
Beckstrom and Wolfe had been deployed with the West Virginia Nationwide Guard as a part of Trump’s crime-fighting mission that federalized the D.C. police drive. The president additionally has deployed or tried to deploy Nationwide Guard members to different cities to help together with his mass deportation efforts however has confronted courtroom challenges.
Asylum choices halted
Trump known as the capturing a “terrorist attack” and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who labored with U.S. forces in the course of the Afghanistan Struggle to enter the U.S. The president has mentioned he desires to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations and expel thousands and thousands of immigrants from the nation.
The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers, Joseph Edlow, mentioned in a publish on the social platform X that asylum choices shall be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
Consultants say the U.S. has rigorous vetting methods for asylum-seekers. Asylum claims created from contained in the nation via USCIS have lengthy confronted backlogs. Critics say the decelerate has been exacerbated in the course of the Trump administration.
In an interview on Fox Information, Pirro mentioned there are “many charges to come” past the upgraded homicide cost. She mentioned her coronary heart goes out to the household of Beckstrom, who volunteered to serve and “ended up being shot ambush-style on the cold streets of Washington, D.C.”
Pirro mentioned officers have been working across the clock to find out the suspect’s motive. Investigators are executing warrants within the state of Washington, the place Lakanwal lived, and different components of the nation.
Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Nationwide Guard troops within the nation’s capital Friday and led them in a prayer for Beckstrom and Wolfe.
“Some of you may have known her,” Hegseth mentioned of Beckstrom. “Obviously a beautiful human being and a great American willing to serve her country brutally targeted.”
Hegseth mentioned he and his spouse briefly visited Wolfe on Thursday night time “to be there, lay hands on him, pray over him.”
Wolfe stays in “very critical condition,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey mentioned Friday. He ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff in recognition of Beckstrom’s loss of life.
“Their courage and commitment to duty represent the very best of our state,” Morrisey mentioned.
Lakanwal entered the US in 2021
Lakanwal has been residing in Bellingham, Washington, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Seattle, together with his spouse and 5 kids, mentioned his former landlord, Kristina Widman.
Mohammad Sherzad, a neighbor of Lakanwal’s, instructed the AP in a telephone interview Friday that Lakanwal was well mannered, quiet and spoke little or no English.
Sherzad mentioned he attended the identical mosque as Lakanwal and had heard from different members that Lakanwal was struggling to seek out work. A few of his kids attended the identical college as Lakanwal’s kids, Sherzad mentioned.
“He was so quiet and the kids were so polite, they were so playful. But we didn’t see anything bad about him. He was looking OK,” Sherzad mentioned. Sherzad mentioned Lakanwal “disappeared” about two weeks in the past.
Lakanwal had briefly labored as an unbiased contractor for Amazon Flex, which permits folks to make use of their very own automobiles to ship packages, an organization spokesperson shared with The Related Press. Lakanwal delivered packages from the top of July to the top of August and hadn’t been lively since.
Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 via Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that resettled Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the nation, officers mentioned. Lakanwal utilized for asylum in the course of the Biden administration, however his asylum was accepted beneath the Trump administration, #AfghanEvac mentioned in an announcement.
In a Thanksgiving tackle to the troops Thursday, Trump mentioned that Lakanwal “went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts.”
Lakanwal served in a CIA-backed Afghan Military unit, generally known as one of many particular Zero Items, within the southern province of Kandahar, in keeping with a resident of the jap Afghan province of Khost who recognized himself as Lakanwal’s cousin. He mentioned Lakanwal was initially from the province and that his brother had labored within the unit as effectively.
The cousin spoke to The Related Press on situation of anonymity for concern of reprisals. He mentioned Lakanwal had began out working as a safety guard for the unit in 2012 and was later promoted to develop into a staff chief and a GPS specialist.
Zero Items had been paramilitary items manned by Afghans however backed by the CIA that additionally served in front-line preventing with CIA paramilitary officers. Activists had attributed abuses to the items. They performed a key position within the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the nation, offering safety round Kabul Worldwide Airport because the Individuals and withdrew from the nation.
On Wednesday night time, Trump known as for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who had entered beneath the Biden administration initiative that introduced roughly 76,000 folks to the nation, lots of whom had labored as interpreters and translators.
This system has confronted intense scrutiny from Trump and others over allegations of gaps within the vetting course of, at the same time as advocates say there was intensive vetting and this system provided a lifeline to folks susceptible to Taliban reprisals.
Beckstrom ‘exemplified leadership, dedication, and professionalism’
Beckstrom had enlisted in 2023, the identical 12 months she graduated highschool, and served with distinction as a navy police officer with the 863rd Navy Police Firm, the West Virginia Nationwide Guard mentioned in an announcement.
“She exemplified leadership, dedication, and professionalism,” the assertion mentioned, including that Beckstrom “volunteered to serve as part of Operation D.C. Safe and Beautiful, helping to ensure the safety and security of our nation’s capital.”
The president known as Beckstrom an “incredible person, outstanding in every single way.”
Related Press journalists Sarah Brumfield, Siddiqullah Alizai, Elena Becatoros and Randy Herschaft contributed to this report.
