The U.S. Army entered the latest anti-Trump political fray Thursday, issuing a statement to rebuke the former president over an alleged altercation at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) earlier this week.
On Monday, the third anniversary of the suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, former President Donald Trump attended a private wreath laying ceremony at the cemetery to honor the 13 United States service members who lost their lives. Joe Biden, still vacationing at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and Kamala Harris, who had no public events on her schedule Monday, did nothing to mark the anniversary other than issue written statements.
The Trump campaign posted a video on social media of the former president at Arlington, with audio of him criticizing Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal.
National Public Radio, a far-left, taxpayer subsidized media outlet, first reported on the alleged altercation Tuesday, saying that “a source with knowledge of the incident said the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section where recent U.S. casualties are buried.”
The area, known as Section 60, is largely reserved for the graves of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The source, according to NPR, said “Arlington officials had made clear that only cemetery staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in the area, known as Section 60.”
In its statement, the Army concurred that participants in the ceremony “were made aware of federal laws” regarding political activity at the cemetery, and “abruptly pushed aside” an employee of the cemetery.
“Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the Army spokesperson said in the statement on Thursday.
“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve,” the statement said.
The Army spokesperson said the incident was reported to the police department at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, but the employee “decided not to press charges” and the Army “considers this matter closed.”
The former president visited national cemetery at the invitation of the Gold Star families and was given permission to take photos during the solemn ceremony. Arlington National Cemetery’s deputy chief of staff stood alongside Trump as he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Following NPR’s hit piece on Tuesday, Gold Star Families released a powerful statement supporting Trump.
“We would like to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to President Donald J. Trump for his presence at the recent Section 60 gathering, honoring our children and their fallen brothers and sisters,” the Gold Star Families said.
“On the three-year anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing, the President and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members, especially our beloved children,” they added.
We had given our approval for President Trump’s official videographer and photographer to attend the event, ensuring these sacred moments of remembrance was respectfully captured so we can cherish these memories forever. We are deeply grateful to the president for taking the time to honor our children and for standing alongside us in our grief, offering his unwavering support during such a difficult time. His compassion and respect meant more than words can express.
A U.S. veteran and former member of the Presidential Honor Guard also defended Trump’s appearance at the cemetery.
The veteran, Lucas O’Hara, said on social media that he worked at Arlington for three years and Trump’s composure at the event. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is facing criticism following reports that cemetery staff warned them not to take photographs at the Monday event.
“I have witnessed over 75 wreath laying ceremonies performed by politicians and conducted 524 funerals in this cemetery during the time I served in the Presidential Honor Guard for three years,” Lucas O’Hara posted on X. “What I got to witness yesterday was the most respectful and solemn ceremony I have seen,” O’Hara, who worked at ANC for three years, wrote.
“There were no speeches, no angles, no weird photo ops just our elected officials and the 45th President respectfully and solemnly honoring the fallen and their families,” he added.
The Trump campaign disputed NPR’s version of events, insisting that photography was permitted and the person trying to block them was having “a mental health episode.”
“The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and, for whatever reason, an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony,” said Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung. “We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” he added.
Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita said in a statement to CNN that “President Trump was there on the invitation of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to honor their loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”
“For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Whoever this individual is spreading these lies are dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces, and they are disrespecting everyone who paid the price for defending our country,” LaCivita said.
Arlington National Cemetery said in a statement that federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries and that it “reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants,” which includes “photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign.”
Joe Biden has attended a similar wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery and during the 2020 presidential campaign, used a video of him standing over a tomb in Section 60 for a political ad.
The U.S. Army and Arlington National Cemetery had no objections about this at that time.
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