MILES PARKS, HOST:
Law enforcement authorities are taking steps to tighten security in the wake of the shooting Wednesday of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. One National Guard member has died, and the other is in critical condition. President Trump says 500 more guard troops will be sent to D.C. in response, and immigration will be curtailed from a number of countries. We're joined now by NPR's David Folkenflik for the latest. Hi, David.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Hey, Miles.
PARKS: So let's just start with last week. Remind us what happened.
FOLKENFLIK: Well, let's focus for a moment on the National Guard members. There was 20-year-old Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. She grew up in Weber Springs (ph), West Virginia. She was deployed in D.C. and, according to authorities, ambushed near a Metro station there. She died on Thanksgiving of her injuries. She had served as a military police soldier, was said to have volunteered to stay in D.C. over the long holiday weekend so others could return home. The National Guard said that U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, a 24-year-old from Martinsburg, West Virginia, remains in critical condition.
As you may know, in response in the District of Columbia, the Metropolitan Police Department and the military say that a police officer will accompany each patrol of guard members to help keep them safe. Those police officers will be paid overtime, according to a police official who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity. He hadn't been given permission to speak publicly about this. And the idea is that that won't divert officers from keeping other areas of the district safe.
PARKS: And now, what about the man who was accused of shooting the two?
FOLKENFLIK: Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan national accused of shooting those troops, is now facing a first-degree murder charge because Beckstrom died. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro - she's, of course, the chief law enforcement official for the District of Columbia, at least the chief federal one - says that there are many more charges to come. She made that statement to Fox News.
President Trump called the act an act of terrorism at the time, but we should note the FBI and the Justice Department and other agencies aren't assigning any motivation right now publicly or at least haven't yet. Lakanwal had come to this country after aiding U.S. intelligence initiatives in Afghanistan during the U.S. military presence there.
PARKS: Can you tell us a little bit more about U.S. officials' plans when it comes to national security going forward?
FOLKENFLIK: Well, you've seen that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio - last night, he tweeted that he'll stop diplomats from issuing any more visas to anyone traveling with an Afghan passport. That's in keeping with a pretty big crackdown promised by President Trump after the attack against allowing migrants to come here.
Advocates for Afghan allies say that Lakanwal would have had to pass a rigorous screening process to get in this country. And in fact, he was given asylum only this year after Trump had returned to office. Advocates for Afghans fear that others who risked their lives to help the U.S. in Afghanistan against the Taliban will also be tainted by this. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, said that the administration will deploy, as you mentioned, another 500 troops to the nation's capital, though we sure don't know the details of that yet.
And I think it's worth pointing out, as well, critics of the deployments, as well as the courts, have been asking all along, why are soldiers patrolling American streets at all when there are no riots or waves of violence? A federal judge has ruled the deployment to D.C. of National Guard members unlawful, but did give the administration some more time to appeal.
PARKS: That's NPR's David Folkenflik. Thanks, David.
FOLKENFLIK: You bet.
PARKS: And later in the program, we will have more on this developing story. We'll talk with West Virginia's governor, Patrick Morrisey, about the attack that targeted two National Guard members from his state, as well as the future of guard deployments to Washington, D.C. And stay with us as we also remember Tony and Oscar award-winning playwright Tom Stoppard.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
