New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is facing a torrent of condemnation over his public statement addressing the murder of West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, who succumbed to her injuries after being shot, allegedly by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national admitted under President Joe Biden’s ‘Operation Allies Welcome’ program.
In a post on X, Mamdani wrote, “I’m devastated to learn of the passing of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, a member of the West Virginia National Guard. She was only twenty years old. As families across the nation come together today to celebrate Thanksgiving, let us take a moment to think of those in West Virginia who have been plunged into unimaginable grief.”
Nowhere in the statement did Mamdani mention that Beckstrom was shot, allegedly by an Afghan migrant who was accused of shouting “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire on her and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe near the White House. Beckstrom died Thursday evening from injuries sustained in the attack. The suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is in the hospital under heavy guard and may face the death penalty, according to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Wolfe remains in critical condition following emergency surgery.
The discrepancy between Mamdani’s language in this instance and his previous use of more forceful terms to describe law enforcement actions, traffic violence, and Israeli military operations did not go unnoticed.
On X, reactions poured in from across the platform, including elected officials, commentators, writers, and everyday users, expressing concern over Mamdani’s word choice, tone, and the perceived minimization of the violence:
- Dumisani Washington, Founder/CEO of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel: “The ‘passing’ of… Someone killed by a jihadist, ‘passed.’ Israel defends itself against jihadists and that’s ‘genocide.’ Well done, New Yorkers. You picked a winner here.”
- Bonchie, writer at RedState: “She didn’t have cancer. She was murdered. By a Muslim from Afghanistan. Just for existing.”
- Brianna Wu, former U.S. House candidate: “Note the passive language. She wasn’t murdered by an Islamist Afghan terrorist, ‘she passed.’ This man is a machine to whitewash terrorist propaganda.”
- @DreaMGriff28: “She was murdered. Do not disrespect her by making it sound like she passed peacefully in her sleep.”
- Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (District 19, NYC): “Narrator: He wasn’t actually devastated.”
- Goldie Ghamari, political analyst: “Jihadi Tactic 101: manipulating language to minimize and whitewash Islamic terrorism. Sarah Beckstrom didn’t just randomly ‘pass away.’ She was murdered in cold blood on American soil by an imported Muslim terrorist who shot her while yelling ‘Allah-o Akbar.’ Words matter.”
- Jim T. Reacher, writer: “She didn’t ‘pass.’ She was shot by a guy screaming ‘Allahu Akbar.’”
- Noam Blum, podcaster: “If you didn’t know about this story, you might have thought she died of cancer based on how vague this is.”
- Ian Miller, writer at Outkick: “Gotta hand it to Mamdani for completely avoiding mentioning how Sarah Beckstrom died. Just a deeply dishonest, profoundly fake person.”
- C. Weber: “They are globalizing the intifada… like you suggested.”
- Tziporah HaLevi: “When Gazans are buried under the rubble of a building used by Hamas to cover their tunnels from which they engage the IDF, they’re victims of a genocide by Jews. When a Muslim uses a pistol to point-blank shoot to kill an American, she ‘passes’. NYC — this is your new Mayor.”
- Drew Pavlou accompanied his commentary with a graphic featuring multiple screenshots of Zohran Mamdani’s previous posts on X. These included Mamdani’s statements on policing, mass incarceration, traffic fatalities, and the Israel-Hamas conflict: “When an Islamic extremist executes a National Guard soldier in cold blood, Zohran refuses to mention how the victim died. They just ‘pass away.’ But Zohran accuses American police of murder all the time. He denounces prisons for MURDERING ‘black and brown people.’ He denounces motorists for unleashing an ‘epidemic’ of murder and violence on cyclists. He of course denounces Israel and the United States for murder across the Middle East. Just strange that he can’t bring himself to express a similar level of moral outrage when Islamic extremists murder people. Strange.”
The shooting suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, reportedly entered the United States under Operation Allies Welcome following the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. As detailed by Jack Posobiec, Lakanwal allegedly waited for the Guardsmen to turn a corner, shot Specialist Sarah Beckstrom in the chest with a revolver, then took her service weapon and executed her at point-blank range. He then continued firing, shooting Guardsman Andrew Wolfe in the neck, before a third soldier intervened and subdued him.
Despite the severity of the attack, the United Nations issued a post on social media hours later reaffirming that seeking asylum is a “human right,” without acknowledging the victims or the shooting in D.C. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board urged against “collective punishment,” cautioning that Afghan refugees “shouldn’t be blamed for the violent act of one man,” even as they acknowledged the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal may have undermined proper vetting procedures.
These latest remarks aren’t the first time Mamdani has drawn widespread rebuke for his statements. On October 7, 2025 — the second anniversary of the Hamas massacre of over 1,100 Israelis — Mamdani issued a statement that accused Israel of launching a “genocidal war.” His post condemned the United States for its alliance with Israel and labeled the Jewish state’s military response “war crimes.” Elected officials, Israeli diplomats, Jewish religious leaders, and conservative media figures called his remarks antisemitic and accused him of serving as a “mouthpiece for Hamas propaganda.”
This week’s firestorm comes less than three months after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who had long warned about rising Islamic extremism and what he called the political weaponization of Islam in American governance. In a September 2025 post, Kirk referred to Mamdani as “one of the biggest threats to our country,” warning that the Muslim socialist’s political ascent represented a “radical Islamic agenda.” Mamdani’s response to Beckstrom’s murder has, for many, reinforced Kirk’s warnings.