WASHINGTON – An aide to Donald Trump “roughly shoved” an employee at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday as the former president attended a memorial service at Kabul airport in 2021 with family members of U.S. service members who died while being evacuated from Afghanistan, an Army spokesman said. on Thursday.
Two Defense Department officials said a Trump aide pulled a cemetery employee off the road to take photos and video at Section 60, where service members killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried.
Military police have been called in and made a report of the incident, but they are not expected to pursue the matter further. According to officials, the police arrived at the scene while Trump’s motorcade was there, but did not receive an official statement from his team.
The cemetery worker does not intend to press charges and the Army considers the matter closed, an Army spokesman said in a statement.
The cemetery conducts about 3,000 such public services a year without incident, the spokesman said, adding that those attending Monday’s memorial “were advised of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies that expressly prohibit political activity on cemetery grounds.”
“A cemetery worker who was trying to follow these rules was suddenly thrown out,” the spokesman said. “In keeping with the decorum expected at the ANC, this staff member acted professionally and prevented further disruption.”
After the incident was reported to the military police, “the employee later decided not to press charges. That’s why the Army considers this issue closed,” the spokesman said, calling the incident “an accident.” The statement added that “an unjustified attack on an ANC staff member and his professionalism is also regrettable. The ANC is a national shrine to the honorable martyrs of the Armed Forces and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure that public ceremonies are conducted with dignity and respect for the nation’s fallen.”
Asked for comment Thursday, Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Cheung said the report was not true.
“Lie. Not even remotely true and this man is a liar,” he said. “As someone who was there, this employee was the one who initiated the physical contact that was unreasonable and unnecessary.”
Asked to comment on the military’s statement, Cheung said, “This person was the one who initiated the physical contact and verbal aggression, which was unwarranted and unnecessary.”
The cemetery confirmed the incident on Tuesday during Trump’s visit, as he and family members of the victims marked the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate attack that killed 13 soldiers.
NPR first reported Two Trump campaign staffers clashed with a cemetery official who tried to prevent them from taking photos and filming, which is normally restricted under Section 60.
Cheung said earlier this week that the campaign was prepared to release a video to support its denial of some of the details in the report.
“There was no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release the footage if such defamatory allegations are made,” Cheung said in a statement. suffering from an apparent mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a highly publicized ceremony.
He followed A statement about X He said that Trump had permission for the photographer to be there. Chris LaCivita, Trump’s campaign manager posted a video about X lays flowers on Trump’s grave and Trump also released a TikTok video of the ceremony.
Federal regulations prohibit “partisan political activities” at memorial services at military cemeteries.
Arlington National Cemetery provided Trump officials with rules obtained by NBC News a few days ago that outline what they can and cannot do at the cemetery on Monday.
The rules said, for example, that cemetery visits by families and visitors must follow the cemetery’s established policies for section 60. Another rule issued to Trump aides said: “Photographers, content creators, or any other person participating for the purposes of, or in direct support of, the campaign of a partisan political candidate are not permitted.” [Arlington National Cemetery] installation.”
NBC News informed On Wednesday, family members invited Trump to attend a memorial service, where Trump posed for a photo at the grave of Marine Staff Sgt. Darin “Taylor” Hoover. Kelly Barnett, Hoover’s mother, told NBC News that she had given permission for the visit to be filmed.