The National Guard shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is the real victim, and we should feel bad for him. No, we don’t. He’s a murderer. Lakanwal, an Afghan national, drove from Washington State to the capital to commit his Thanksgiving Eve attack. He shot two members of the National Guard, Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, near the White House. Beckstrom died the following day, while Wolfe remains in critical condition. He is showing signs of consciousness, though.
The liberal media has decided to take the obvious route: blame Trump, wonder why the Guard was deployed, question their mission in DC, enhancing public safety, and then expound on how bad Lakanwal had it here post-Afghanistan exit.
Who cares about the latter? The man was an asset, working with U.S. Special Forces and intelligence units hunting down terrorists—you don’t bring these people onto your soil. They’re mercenaries. Second, being unable to acclimate gives one a license to kill. Two, yes, this shooting does rehash the vetting issues that were brought up during the 2021 dash out of Afghanistan. Third, data showed the National Guard's deployment in the capital reduced crime and improved safety, even the Washington Post editorial board agreed. So, what’s with all the ‘the Guard shouldn’t have been there, and orange man—bad’ nonsense? Drew Holden had another epic thread breaking down the atrocious media coverage. It’s CTE-inducing, folks:
It is contemptible that legacy media outlets like @NPR, @nytimes, @ABC and @washingtonpost are willing to invest this much energy to cultivate sympathy for the terrorist who shot two members of the National Guard last week, while simultaneously demeaning the death of Spc. Sarah… pic.twitter.com/XI4GwK8UFS
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 3, 2025
And @juliettekayyem doubled down in her tweet of the piece, alleging the Guard were “stranded somewhere in this battlefield of partisan politics.”
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 2, 2025
That “battlefield” is…our nation’s capital. As a resident myself, maybe that it has become so dangerous is why the Guard are there? pic.twitter.com/R0C3yxNvyJ
But The Atlantic & its writers weren’t the only ones misleading audiences in this way.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 2, 2025
Can anyone read this @USATODAY headline and not conclude that the paper is blaming President Trump, as if a terrorist shooting were some kind of natural disaster, a winter storm or the like? pic.twitter.com/WhQHKSOlNU
There were others, like @sfchronicle, as @joelpollak notes.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 2, 2025
And as he calls out, the outlets and voices making these claims about the killing of the National Guard soldiers are wrong not just morally, but on the facts. … https://t.co/UF78pyhQaS
As even the @washingtonpost editorial board conceded, the national guard very obviously improved the safety in our nation’s capital.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 2, 2025
Perhaps some more journalism could’ve gone toward explaining why DC became so unsafe to begin with? pic.twitter.com/1N4KwpEQaN
I try to avoid giving these types of voices oxygen, but the depraved TDS-takes from people like @krassenstein, @WalshFreedom and @ScottGreenfield shouldn’t be soon forgotten. pic.twitter.com/9fdxvDLQNE
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 2, 2025
And while they’re at it, maybe the legacy media and leftists should take some time to consider how the men and women protecting our nation’s capital could come to be seen as some kind of hostile, occupying force by would-be shooters in the first place.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 2, 2025
A few places to start: pic.twitter.com/DnbZmI3E1f
Again, the whiplash from this acid trip in liberal thinking is always wild. Yet, it always has the same ending, which is that liberals are dead wrong about everything. Libs, there are headlines from a few weeks ago that undercut every attack you’re hurling at Trump regarding this National Guard deployment in DC. Also, if deflection is your aim, please do better.
No, actually, stop and shut up.
Joe Biden’s policies got service members killed again. That’s the real story, but we know why your silent about it.