‘I Get Why We’re Here’: Slain National Guardsman Reportedly Expressed Commitment To Mission, Making A ‘Difference’

West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom expressed a desire to “make [a] difference” while deployed to Washington, D.C., her ex-boyfriend told CNN on Friday.

Beckstrom and West Virginia Air National Guard Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe were allegedly shot Wednesday by Rahmanullah Lakanwal roughly a mile from the White House. Lakanwal, an Afghan national brought into the United States by the Biden administration in the wake of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, allegedly shot the duo with a Smith and Wesson revolver at the Farragut West Metro Station in Washington. (RELATED: Jeanine Pirro Provides Shocking Detail About 2 National Guardsmen Shot In DC)

WATCH:

“She was like, ‘People spit towards us, cuss at us, throw things at us, and we can’t do nothing.’ She couldn’t detain nobody. She couldn’t stop them from doing wrong. It was— they told them to call the cops,” Adam Carr told CNN reporter Gabe Cohen what his ex-girlfriend said about the deployment. “She wanted to make a difference. She wanted to extremely. She was happy with it. And she just was also like, ‘Why am I here if I can’t do nothing? Where they limited them so much.’ She’s like, ‘It’s pointless.’ She’s like, ‘I get why we’re here. Crime is bad, but it’s pointless if we can’t do anything.’”

President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of the National Guard to Washington after his Aug. 11 announcement of a federal takeover of the capital city’s Metropolitan Police Department following an attempted carjacking which left Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine injured when he intervened to assist a victim.

Beckstrom died Thursday from the wounds inflicted in the attack.

“Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, one of the guardsmen that we’re talking about — highly respected, young, magnificent person, started service in June of 2023, outstanding in every way — she’s just passed away,” Trump said as he called servicemembers for Thanksgiving.

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced Friday that Lakanwal would face first-degree murder charges due to Beckstrom’s passing.

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