On November 26th, two West Virginian National Guard members stationed just two blocks from the White House were shot in what the mayor referred to as a “targeted attack.” At the time, all we heard from the FBI Director and City Mayor was that they were hospitalized and in critical condition. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey initially said the troops had died, but he later clarified he was “receiving conflicting reports” about their condition.
Currently, the only suspect they have is in custody, as he was held down right after the shots were fired both from and upon him. The shooter’s wounds were not deemed life-threatening; however, his motive is thought to be the stationing of the National Guard around the capital, as well as other cities around the country. This has been a point of contention for months, fueling court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration using the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.
As a result, another 500 troops have been stationed in D.C., bringing the total to around 2,200 troops currently operating in the city.
One of the victims involved has been recovering well, while the other—20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom—has died from her injuries. According to the parents of 24-year-old Andrew Wolf, the survivor of the attack, and Mayor Morrissey, “…his head wound is slowly healing, and he’s beginning to ‘look more like himself.'” He’s expected to be in acute care for the next two to three weeks, but the general consensus around his recovery is optimistic. This is because of the promising recovery he’s made thus far, being able to give a nurse a thumbs up and wiggle his toes with only about a week of recovery.
On the other side, due to the likely shooter’s Afghan status, the Trump administration has cited the shooting as a reason for additional immigration crackdown measures, with all citizenship ceremonies for immigrants hailing from any of the 19 countries labeled as “of concern,” including Afghanistan, being canceled.
Following this, Joe Edlow, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, posted on X. “I have directed a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern.” When asked for additional details, he pointed towards the 19 countries in a June presidential proclamation. On that list, the countries included were Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The final ripple effect of the shooter’s identity as an asylum seeker who was approved under the Biden Administration is that now the Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will be reviewing all asylum cases that were approved under former President Joe Biden.
