Courage is a word we use often in this country, sometimes too often. But when a young woman puts on the uniform of the United States National Guard, that word takes on weight and meaning. Sarah Beckstrom understood that. At just twenty years old, she served her state and her nation with honor. Now her family mourns, and the circumstances of her death have ignited a firestorm of criticism aimed at New York City’s mayor-elect.
Zohran Mamdani, who will soon lead America’s largest city, issued a statement following Beckstrom’s death that has left many Americans shaking their heads in disbelief. His words expressed devastation and called for remembrance during the Thanksgiving holiday. What his statement did not include speaks volumes louder than what it did.
Mamdani made no mention that Beckstrom was shot. He said nothing about the suspect now under guard in a hospital bed. He remained silent on the reported fact that the alleged shooter, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire near the White House. The mayor-elect’s statement read as though Beckstrom had simply passed away, as if from natural causes or an accident, rather than being gunned down alongside 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, who fights for his life in critical condition.
These omissions matter. They matter to the families grieving this Thanksgiving. They matter to the men and women who serve in uniform. They matter to Americans who believe their leaders should speak plainly about the threats we face.
Lakanwal entered this country through Operation Allies Welcome, a program established under the Biden administration to bring Afghan nationals to American soil. The program was intended to help those who assisted American forces during our longest war. But as this tragedy demonstrates, the vetting process raised serious questions that demand serious answers.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has indicated that Lakanwal may face the death penalty. That is appropriate given the gravity of these alleged crimes. But capital punishment, should it come, will not return Sarah Beckstrom to her family. It will not heal Andrew Wolfe. It will not answer the fundamental question of how a man allegedly capable of such violence was welcomed into our country in the first place.
Political leaders face a choice in moments like these. They can speak with clarity about what happened and why it matters, or they can offer sanitized statements that avoid uncomfortable facts. Mamdani chose the latter path, and Americans across the political spectrum have noticed.
The families in West Virginia that Mamdani mentioned in his statement deserve more than carefully worded sympathy that dances around the truth. They deserve leaders willing to confront hard realities, even when those realities challenge preferred narratives about immigration policy and national security.
Sarah Beckstrom’s service and sacrifice demand nothing less than honesty from those who would lead us. Her memory deserves better than a statement that reads like it was written by committee, scrubbed clean of any detail that might prove politically inconvenient.
As Americans, we can disagree about policy while agreeing on basic facts. What happened near the White House was not a mystery or an accident. A young servicewoman was allegedly murdered, and the circumstances surrounding that alleged crime raise questions that will not disappear simply because they go unmentioned in official statements.
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