Arlington cemetery official was ‘pushed aside’ in Trump staff altercation but won’t press charges

An Arlington National Cemetery official was “abruptly pushed aside” during an altercation with former President Donald Trump’s staff during a wreath-laying ceremony but declined to press charges, an Army spokesman said Thursday.

A statement said the cemetery employee was trying to make sure those participating in the wreath-laying ceremony earlier this week were following the rules.

“This employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption,” the statement said. The incident was reported to the police, but the employee decided not to press charges. The Army said it considered the matter closed.

Trump’s campaign was warned about not taking photographs before the altercation at Arlington National Cemetery during a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday to honor service members killed in the Afghanistan War withdrawal, a defense official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said that the Trump campaign was warned about not taking photographs in Section 60 before their arrival and the altercation. Section 60 is the burial site for military personnel killed while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Trump was at Arlington on Monday at the invitation of some of the families of the 13 service members who were killed in the Kabul airport bombing exactly three years prior.

Cemetery officials had previously acknowledged that “an incident” had occurred and a report had been filed, but it did not address details of what had happened. They declined to share the report.

“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 cemetery officials’ statement said. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.”

Trump’s spokesperson Steven Cheung said the Republican presidential candidate’s team was granted access to have a photographer. He contested the allegation that a campaign staffer pushed a cemetery official.

“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,” he said.

Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign adviser, noted that Trump was there at the invitation of the families of the service members who were killed in the airport bombing. The Trump campaign posted a message signed by relatives of two of the service members killed in the bombing that said “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.”

“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 hollowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery,” he said in a written statement, misspelling the word hallowed. “Whoever this individual is, spreading these lies are dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces.”

Michael Tyler, a spokesperson for Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, said the reports of the altercation were “what we’ve come to expect from Donald Trump and his team.”

“Donald Trump is a person who wants to make everything all about Donald Trump,” Tyler said on CNN on Wednesday. “He’s also somebody who has a history of demeaning and degrading military service members, those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.”

Trump’s running mate JD Vance was asked about the incident Wednesday at a campaign event in Erie, Pennsylvania, and said that “apparently somebody at Arlington Cemetery, some staff member, had a little disagreement with somebody” and “the media has turned this into a national news story.”

He instead tried to focus on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling Harris “disgraceful” for not firing anyone for the deaths of service members in the terror attack. “She can go to hell,” Vance said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

A Pentagon investigation into the deadly attack concluded that the suicide bomber acted alone and that the deaths of more than 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were not preventable. But critics have slammed the Biden administration for the catastrophic evacuation, saying it should have started earlier than it did.

Adriana Gomez Licon And Tara Copp, The Associated Press