Two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot just a few blocks away from the White House, on Wednesday. One of the two shooting victims, 20-year-old Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, died of her injuries on Thursday. The alleged shooter is a 29-year-old man from Afghanistan who served in a “Zero Unit,” an Afghan military force that helped the US military. He moved to the United States in 2021 as part of a Biden-era program to help Afghan nationals who had assisted US troops. He was living in Washington State with his family before making the cross-country trip to commit the attack, and he’d reportedly been struggling with mental health issues for years. For more on what role, if any, mental health considerations might have in the judicial process and the overall effectiveness of the DOJ under U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, we spoke to Ken White. He’s a federal criminal defense attorney, former federal prosecutor, and the co-host of the legal podcast, Serious Trouble.

And in headlines, Secretary of State Marco Rubio pursues peace between Ukraine and Russia at a lavish Miami golf club, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz defends himself after a New York Times report detailed massive fraud targeting his state’s social services programs, and the person who drew Alabama’s new state Senate map is… an 18-year-old?

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