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Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom Dead News Reported News by @grok · Brett Keane and Eve Show

• 0:10
  Good Morning America, I'm Eve Harlan with Channel 7 News
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  bringing you the full story on a tragedy that's gripped the
• 0:17
  nation this Thanksgiving week. Let's dive right in.
• 0:22
  In a gut wrenching update from Washington DC, U.S.
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  Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, a 20 year old National Guardsman
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  from Somersville, West Virginia, has tragically passed away from
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  injuries sustained in a brutal shooting near the White House.
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  Beckstrom, who served proudly with the West Virginia National
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  Guard, was one of two soldiers ambushed yesterday afternoon
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  while on duty in the capital. The attack unfolded around 3:00
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  PM on Pennsylvania Ave. just blocks from the Executive
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  Mansion. Witnesses described hearing a
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  rapid burst of gunfire followed by chaos as the Guardsman, both
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  unarmed and in uniform, hit the ground.
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  Beckstrom took two rounds to the chest and abdomen.
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  Her fellow soldier, 28 year old Sergeant Andrew Wolf from Ohio,
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  remains in critical but stable condition at George Washington
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  University Hospital after emergency surgery.
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  Beckstrom wasn't just a soldier, she was a small town hero.
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  Born in 2005, she enlisted right out of high school in 2023,
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  driven by a passion for service that her family says ran deep.
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  Sarah was the light of our lives, Her mother, Lisa
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  Beckstrom, told me in an exclusive interview last night
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  from their Somersville home. She joined to protect folks just
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  like us. Didn't care about the risks.
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  Now this. It's senseless.
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  Friends paint her as the ultimate teammate, a track star
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  in school, a volunteer firefighter on weekends and
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  someone who dreamed of going Special Forces.
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  She was deployed to DC just two weeks ago as part of the
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  National Guard's heightened security detail amid rising
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  urban threats. No suspects in custody yet.
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  The FBI is calling it a targeted hit, possibly linked to anti
• 2:00
  military sentiment. But they're chasing leads on a
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  dark SUV that speed off. Motive still murky, but DC Metro
• 2:08
  is treating it as domestic terrorism.
• 2:11
  President Trump broke the news himself during a sombre
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  Thanksgiving video call with troops overseas, his voice
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  cracking as he announced Beckstrom's death to stunned
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  service members. Sarah was one of our fighters, a
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  warrior with heart, he said, vowing swift justice.
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  This savage attack on our guardians won't stand.
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  Flags are at half staff nationwide today and vigils are
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  popping up from Charleston to the Capitol steps where hundreds
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  gathered under flickering candles chanting her name.
• 2:40
  Now to the bigger picture. Trump zeroing in on this horror
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  as fuel for his hardline immigration overhaul.
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  In a fiery Truth Social post hours after the shooting, he
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  blasted LAX borders, letting in killers and chaos, tying
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  Beckstrom's death directly to unchecked migration.
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  His plan? A sweeping executive order
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  slated for signing next week to permanently pause all
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  immigration from what he calls Third World countries until the
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  system recovers. That's no small move.
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  It holds visas, green cards and refugee entries from dozens of
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  nations pending a full DHS review.
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  Trump's pitching it as National Security 101, arguing porous
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  borders flood streets with threats, pointing to Beckstrom's
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  case as Exhibit A, though no link to migrants has surfaced.
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  He's also green lighting 20,000 more National Guard troops for
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  border OPS and ICE raids, plus using military bases nationwide
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  as pop up detention centres for mass deportations.
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  We protect our own first, he thundered in a Fox interview
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  last night. No more American blood for open
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  doors. How's this shaking America?
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  On the home front, it's a raw gut check for military families.
• 3:51
  Recruitments already tanked 15% this year amid burnout fears,
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  and Beckstrom's story could either spark an enlistment surge
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  or scare kids away. Economically, that migration
• 4:02
  freeze hits hard. Think labour shortages in farms,
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  construction, even tech experts at the Migration Policy
• 4:09
  Institute warn of 1/2 trillion dollar GDP dip over five years.
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  Immigration's the real fault line.
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  Trump's base is cheering the clamp down as long overdue
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  muscle, with polls showing 62% of Republicans backing it post
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  shooting. But Dems and immigrant advocates
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  are crying foul, calling it xenophobic overkill that shreds
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  America's beacon RIP and ignores root causes like poverty driving
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  folks N. Protests are brewing in LA and
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  New York and lawsuits from ACLU types are stacking up already.
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  For everyday folks, it means tighter scrutiny at checkpoints,
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  longer waits for family reunions and the military stretch
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  thinner, Beckstrom's sacrifice underscoring the human cost of
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  it all. We'll keep digging as this
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  unfolds. Stay safe out there, America.
• 4:55
  Back to you in the studio.