As Trump orders more troops to D.C., Capito says WV Guard should remain only on voluntary basis

Days after a shooting that left one member of the West Virginia National Guard dead and another hospitalized in Washington, D.C., U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said she believes troops from West Virginia should remain in the city only on a voluntary basis.

Capito’s statement to reporters came after President Donald Trump requested 500 more National Guard members be sent to the city in the wake of the shooting on Wednesday. About 150 members of the West Virginia National Guard are still in D.C., and have been deployed there on a voluntary basis since about Nov. 15.

“I like that idea — for West Virginians to be in a voluntary status. We’ve certainly served our time over in DC,” Capito said. “… I don’t know where [Trump] is going to draw his 500 extra guardsmen from. I think West Virginia should stay on a voluntary basis, and that will be up to the governor.”

Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Morrisey originally sent about 300 members of the state’s National Guard to D.C. in August, at the request of the Trump administration.

Trump’s order to increase military presence in D.C. came after two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot in a targeted attack blocks from the White House on Wednesday. 

West Virginia National Guard member U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died on Thursday evening, according to officials. The other victim, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remained hospitalized in critical condition on Friday morning, according to a news release from Morrisey’s office.

In an interview with CNN’s Sarah Sidner on Friday morning, Morrisey said he was “supportive” of keeping West Virginia National Guard members who volunteer in D.C. He did not indicate whether more troops would be sent from the state, but said he agreed with Trump’s move to bring more military into the U.S. Capital. It would be wrong, he continued, to pull the National Guard out after the recent attack.

“The last thing in the world we should do is turn around and reverse course and let the bad guys, the evil-doers win,” Morrisey said. “… We cannot turn around and give in to them. We have to send a clear message that if you’re going to mess with our troops, you’re going to pay the price.”

The suspect was shot during the incident and taken into custody. On Thursday, federal law enforcement officials searched the home of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan refugee who worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Lakanwal allegedly drove across the country from Washington state to D.C. to target the troops, officials said.

Lakanwal is currently facing a murder charge as well as three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. 

In the wake of the shooting, Trump and other federal officials have vowed to crackdown on immigration. On Wednesday evening, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said that all applications from Afghan nationals were being put on pause.

On Friday, Capito said she was “concerned” about the immigration process and the policies that allowed Lakanwal to come to the United States.

“I mean, what kind of vetting processes do we have? Are they thorough?” Capito questioned. “… I think that this is a sad way to point out that we don’t have good and accurate information [on our different immigration processes] that we need to get. We need to get more granular. I think that’s why the President put a halt on a lot of this, so that we can evaluate our processes.”