A CIA trained killer who Trump granted asylum to killed a National Guard member

We need answers!

We all mourn the killing of West Virginia National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom killed by a CIA trained killer on Thanksgiving. She had bravely joined the National Guard to serve our nation—with dreams of becoming an FBI agent. And she would be alive today--if not for Donald Trump.

I don’t say that because of any political views, I say that because it’s the truth. First, the Trump regime in April allowed the shooter to remain in the United States. If that hadn’t happened, the shooter wouldn’t have been in our country on Thanksgiving Eve. Add to that, the only reason Beckstrom was in Washington, D.C.--as opposed to her home state of West Virginia-- was because Trump forced National Guard troops to be there to serve as props for his political agenda.

Before we get to the CIA’s involvement in all of this, let’s look at the undisputed facts. First, the killer, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was first admitted to the United States in 2021 by the Biden administration by way of the Operation Allies Welcome program. Given Lakanwal’s extensive work for the CIA in Afghanistan, he was permitted to move to the United States.

After living in the United States—most recently in Washington state—Lakanwal applied for asylum. To be granted asylum under federal law, it requires a level of vetting including biometrics info, background reviews and an in person interview by a representative of the Trump regime. As we have learned from various media reports, the Trump regime granted Lakanwal’s asylum request seven months before the shooting.

Now if you listen to Trump officials such as Trump himself, FBI Director Kash Patel and US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the Biden administration failed to do any vetting of the people allowed in under the Operation Allies Welcome program. Putting aside if that is true or not, if they truly believed Biden let people into the country from Afghanistan with no screening, why didn’t Trump order even more in-depth vetting of Lakanwal’s asylum application?! Or are they telling us they believe Biden did nothing to screen people and then they did the same?!

Second, as noted above, Beckstrom was a member of the West Virginia National Guard. She was serving in the National Guard’s military police to increase her prospects of one day becoming an FBI agent. Then came Trump. Like thousands of other National Guard troops, he demanded they be sent to Washington, D.C. to serve his political agenda. If it wasn’t for Trump’s ego and agenda, Beckstrom would never have been in D.C. on Thanksgiving Eve.

Of course, the killer bears responsibility for the murder. But that doesn’t mean Trump’s role in this should be ignored.

That brings us to who is this killer and was he still working for the CIA at the time of the murder?! I don’t mean that in any conspiratorial manner. This shooting though was clearly not the type of random acts of crime that the National Guard was sent to D.C. to stop.

Rather, this appears to be a planned attack. The killer--who lived across the country in Washington State with his five children--drove thousands of miles to D.C. He then went to a train station where National Guard troops were gathered and “opened fire without provocation, ambush style,” hitting two of them. The suspect was then shot by a third member of the National Guard and then was subdued.

The why for this attack demands answers from the CIA. After all, Lakanwal’s ties to the CIA were so impossible to deny that current CIA Director John Ratcliffe admitted within hours of the shooting he had been one of their assets. When is the last time you can recall the CIA admitting a person worked for them—especially that quickly?! Of course, since Ratcliffe was appointed by Trump, he quickly tried to blame Biden for the shooting since he allowed Lakanwal in the country.

There has been some good reporting by the NY Times on Lakanwal’s CIA ties. We learned that Lakanwal was part of a shadowy, paramilitary force that worked with the CIA known as “Zero Unit.” But these weren’t any random units. These were deadly, much feared, highly trained killers sent on night raids that were accused by human rights groups of widespread killings of civilians. As the NY Times bluntly put it, “The units were known for their brutality and labeled “death squads” by human rights groups.”

The CIA angle was greatly focused on by international media outlets. For example, the BBC headline read, “National Guard shooting suspect worked with CIA in Afghanistan.” That reporting gave us even more details, noting that Lakanwal’s “unit was known locally as Scorpion Forces, operating initially under the CIA.”

The UK’s Guardian headline told us, “Suspect in Washington DC national guard shooting had ties to CIA, agency confirms.” And the UK’s Telegraph went further than anything I could fine in US media, reporting that Lakanwal was a special forces commander for the CIA unit who worked alongside US troops. So, he was not just a member of this deadly unit--he was one of the CIA’s leaders.

Now you understand why Lakanwal was permitted to the enter the United States in 2021—and also maybe why he was granted asylum. He had been a high-level CIA asset who had brutally killed people to serve the CIA’s agenda in Afghanistan.

This is all relevant to determining the reason for the shooting. Reporting has emerged that Lakanwal had shared with friends the horrors he saw—and was involved in-as part of the CIA backed missions. You get a sense that he might have been suffering from PTSD.

All of this demands that the Trump regime answer some vitally important questions. For starters, the Trump regime should be required to release the killer’s asylum application. We need to know what Trump knew when this man was granted asylum in April. Were there red flags raised that he was a dangerous killer? That he was suffering from PTSD.

Also, when is the last time the CIA spoke with him? Were they still pressuring him to help them near the time of the shooting? When is the last time the CIA paid him?!

And while I’m no conspiracy theorist, the timing of this attack adds more questions given Trump’s approval rating is at the lowest point of his term—and he is now using the killing to give red meat to his base by banning Brown and Black immigration. Trump’s announcement of this new immigration ban has been met with loud cheers by his MAGA faithful.

In sum: Why did this CIA trained killer drive across the country to shoot at National Guard troops outside a random train station in D.C. on Thanksgiving Eve at a time when Trump’s approval ratings are at an all-time low?! Obviously, we need answers!

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