The U.S. Army is defending an Arlington National Cemetery staff member who was involved in an altercation with members of Donald Trump's campaign staff during the former president's visit to the cemetery on Monday, saying the employee "acted with professionalism" when they were "abruptly pushed aside."
The incident occurred when Trump, who earlier attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns along with relatives of fallen servicemembers of a bombing on U.S. troops during the final withdrawal of Afghanistan, entered an area of the cemetery known as Section 60. That area is reserved for military personnel who have lost their lives while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
An official of Arlington National Cemetery attempted to prevent the Trump campaign staffers from filming and photographing in that area after having made clear to them that only cemetery staff members would be authorized to do so in that area.
An Army spokesperson defended the cemetery employee, saying they were trying to enforce federal laws prohibiting political activities on cemetery grounds when they were pushed aside.
“ANC conducts nearly 3,000 such public ceremonies a year without incident,” a U.S. Army statement read. “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. Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption.”
The ANC employee reported the incident to Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall police, who has jurisdiction over the cemetery, but subsequently decided not to press charges and, therefore, the Army considered the matter closed.
Military officials told the New York Times the employee feared that pursuing the matter could subject them to retaliation from Trump supporters.
Arlington National Cemetery clarified in a statement earlier this week that "Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign."
The statement from the Army came after the Trump campaign shared a video on TikTok that included footage from the cemetery that likely violates federal law against using military cemeteries for campaign purposes.
The Trump campaign has said it was explicitly granted permission to bring “campaign designated media” to Section 60 by the Gold Star families present. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung denied a physical altercation took place and said the campaign is "prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made. At this time, the campaign has not released any footage of the incident.
"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," Cheung's statement read.
The Army, which called the incident "unfortunate," defended the employee against the Trump campaign by adding, "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," the statement concluded. "And its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation's fallen deserve."