Staff Reports
The brutal ambush outside the White House that left Specialist Sarah Beckstrom dead and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe critically wounded has shaken the nation and exposed a shocking lapse in basic security. Authorities say 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who drove from Washington state to launch the attack, has been arrested and now faces upgraded murder charges as the probe continues. Americans should be furious that our troops—young men and women volunteering to keep our capital safe—were shot on U.S. soil in broad daylight.
President Trump did not mince words when a CBS correspondent tried to lecture him about who to blame, snapping back that the offender was allowed in and asking bluntly, “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?” His outburst was raw, honest, and exactly the kind of straight talk millions of Americans are tired of not hearing from the political class and media elite. When reporters cite bureaucratic reports to excuse policy failures, ordinary citizens see the consequences with their own eyes—and they want results, not excuses.
The debate over vetting is now a political battleground, with some in the press pointing to inspector-general findings while others remind us the 2021 evacuations were chaotic and imperfect. The suspect came to the U.S. during that evacuation, and while the media rushes to claim “thorough vetting,” every sober review has flagged data gaps, rushed processing, and decisions made under political pressure. This isn’t about demonizing refugees; it’s about common-sense screening and accountability so that Americans and our servicemembers aren’t put in harm’s way.
Mr. Trump’s response wasn’t empty rhetoric — he immediately called for a hard pause on migration from failing states and vowed to re-examine the entire resettlement process to prevent future tragedies. That decisive posture is what leadership looks like: protect the homeland first, then sort out humanitarian and immigration paperwork without putting Americans at risk. If Washington’s permanent class prefers politics over protection, they’ll keep producing disasters; strong borders and smart vetting stop them before they reach our streets.
The press will pummel the messenger instead of demanding answers from the officials who ran the evacuation and set the rules that let dangerous people fall through the cracks. Conservatives must keep the heat on DHS, the State Department, and anyone who rubber-stamped policies that made it “almost impossible” to remove dangerous actors once they were here. We owe it to Specialist Beckstrom and her fellow guardsman to get a full accounting, to prosecute failures, and to overhaul a system that has proven lethal when politics trumped prudence.
This is a moment for the country to choose: will we prioritize the safety of our citizens and the brave men and women who defend us, or will we let another tragic headline be followed by the same tired excuses? Hold your elected officials accountable, demand immediate reforms, and stand with the military families who deserve better than lukewarm statements and bureaucratic finger-pointing. America mourns Specialist Beckstrom, and we must honor her sacrifice by fixing the broken policies that allowed this horror to happen.
