Trump Orders Flags Flown at Half-Staff in Memory of Slain National Guard Member

Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, has been charged with her death.

Community members prepare a portrait of West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom for a vigil in her honor at the town hall in Webster Springs, W. Va., on Nov. 28, 2025. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump ordered flags to be flown at half-staff until sunset on Dec. 4 in memory of National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom, who was fatally shot on Nov. 26, a few blocks from the White House.

“As a mark of respect for the memory of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, West Virginia Army National Guard, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, December 4, 2025,” the presidential proclamation stated.

“I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.”

Trump said he has invited Beckstrom’s family to the White House.

Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, has been charged with her death and is facing a first-degree murder charge.

He has also been charged with shooting National Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, 24, as well as assault with intent to kill while armed and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Lakanwal, who came to the nation’s capital from Washington state, made a virtual court appearance from his hospital bed on Dec. 2. He was injured in a shootout with the National Guard after he attacked Beckstrom and Wolfe. A lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Lakanwal was ordered to be held without bond.

“No condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community,” D.C. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond said.

“It is fairly clear that he came across the country, 3,000 miles, armed, with a specific purpose in mind.”

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14, 2026.

“There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on “Fox & Friends.”

The Trump administration has said that the shooting was an act of terrorism and that the administration will seek the death penalty.

Lakanwal worked with the CIA during the war in Afghanistan, according to the administration.