Daily Update - November 28, 2025

The Liberal Left in Washington, DC aimed the weapon.

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About Reuel Sample

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Friday November 28, 2025.

Rest in peace Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom.

Specialist Beckstrom was shot and killed by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29 year old Afghan national who had been let into our country after helping the US in Afghanistan. While Mr. Lakenwal’s immigration and vetting status are somewhat murky at the moment, what we do know is that he got in his vehicle in Bellingham, Washington, drove across the country to our nation’s capital, and there targeted the National Guard deployed in Washington, DC.

Specialist Beckstrom, Staff SGT Andrew Wolfe – the other seriously wounded guard member – and others are in Washington, DC doing their duty because Democrat policies continue to embolden criminals. Except for the most extreme of charges, judges in DC are under no legal compunction to hold anyone pretrial – allowing those charged with crimes to go free in a matter of hours. According to the DC Justice Lab – an organization that advocates for cashless bail – 90% of all those arrested in our nation’s capital are released before their trials without having to post bail. While the mainstream media was righteously declaring that crime was going down anyway, none of the reported statistics included the increase in serious juvenile crimes. At the same time, Metro Police reported that their force was down several hundred officers, mostly in response to budget cuts, which prevent the investigation and arrest in any but the most serious of cases.

In short, the National Guard is putting their lives on the line because Democrats cannot govern and keep their people safe. They refuse to train and put more police on the job – so the criminals own the streets. When the reduced police force does catch an accused criminal – they are released almost right away. If they are brought to trial, according to the Heritage Foundation, judges on the D.C. Superior Court are now so anesthetized to chronic crime that they hand out lenient sentences to repeat and violent defendants.

That is what killed Specialist Beckstrom. That is why Staff SGT Wolfe is fighting for his life in a DC hospital. While Mr. Lakanwal pulled the trigger, it was the liberal left in Washington, DC that aimed the weapon.

This past November, because Republican voters did not show up to the polls, Wilmington is now governed entirely by Democrats.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.

Reuel Sample is the Editor-in-Chief of The Wilmington Standard. A graduate of Grove City College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he has served as both a Presbyterian Pastor and a Navy Chaplain. He is the product of a classical liberal arts education combined with real world experience in politics and business and conservative Christian worldview firmly rooted in the Reformed tradition. He is the host of several podcasts including the NHC GOP Podcast, the Pastor's Voice, and co-hosts the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience. An avid sailor, he has sailed around the world as a youth and to the Azores as a teen as well as extensive trips up and down the east coast of the United States. He is honored to be married to his wife Pam and makes his home in Wilmington, NC.