Arlington staffer 'pushed aside' during Trump cemetery visit: US Army
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An altercation between an Arlington employee and Donald Trump's campaign occurred over the political use of the sacred site
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Former US president Donald Trump attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26, 2024. (AFP)
The US Army criticized Republican candidate Donald Trump's campaign on Thursday following an altercation at Arlington National Cemetry (ANC) where an employee was "abruptly pushed aside" during the former president's visit.
A dispute took place at the cemetery between Trump's aides and an Arlington official sparked over the political use of the site.
An army spokesperson issued a statement claiming that the attendees in the wreath-laying ceremony and visitors of Section 60 "were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds."
The statement added that the Arlington employee was attempting to "ensure adherence" to the cemetery's rules prohibiting the use of the grounds for political reasons, adding that "the incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked."
The spokesperson highlighted that although the incident was reported to the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall police, the employee did not press charges. According to The New York Times, the staffer refused to take action for fear of retaliation from Trump supporters.
Trump's controversial visit
The former president attended the wreath-laying visit commemorating the third anniversary of the thirteen service members of the US forces killed by a suicide bombing while withdrawing from Afghanistan.
While The Washington Post reported that Arlington officials informed Trump's team that the former president was permitted in his "personal capacity and bring personal aides, but not campaign staff," the campaign claimed that it was was "granted access to have a photographer."
The campaign staffers told Axios that they are "weighing options" of whether they release videos of the incident.
The US Army is in charge of the ANC's management, including enforcing rules concerning filing and photography on the premises.
Contentious commentary on the incident
Despite the alleged violations of the cemetery's laws, the army considers the incident a closed matter, Trump's campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Axios.
"As the Army has said, they consider this matter closed. President Trump was there to support the Gold Star families and honor the sacrifices their loved ones made," he said.
The New York Times reported that the late Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano’s sister, whose grave was visibly present in the online photos from the visit, stated that "Trump campaign staffers did not adhere to the rules that were set in place for this visit to Staff Sergeant Hoover's gravesite in Section 60, which lays directly next to my brother's grave."
"His deplorable acts know no bounds," liberal veterans group VoteVets wrote on X in response to a series of videos posted on Trump's TikTok page.
