Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump lays a wreath alongside Marine Cpl. Kelsee Lainhart (Ret.) and and U.S. Marine Corps. Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews (Ret.) who were injured at the Abbey Gate Bombing, during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia.
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An aide to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump “abruptly pushed aside” an Arlington National Cemetery employee who tried to ensure that Trump and his entourage adhered to federal laws and policies that “clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds,” a U.S. Army spokesperson said Thursday.
The spokesperson said that the pushing incident — which occurred before Trump and family members of slain Marines posed for photos after he laid flowers at two gravesites at Arlington’s Section 60 — led to military police being notified but “the employee subsequently decided not to press charges.”
“Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed,” said the spokesperson. The Army oversees Arlington’s operations.
The spokesperson said that participants in Trump’s visit to Arlington and the visit to Section 60 graves were made aware of laws barring political activities on military cemetery grounds, such as Arlington.
Section 60 is an area of the cemetery where some service members killed in Afghanistan and Iraq are buried, and where recording is typically restricted.
Nonetheless, former president Trump and campaign officials have posted several videos of the former president at the cemetery to his social media accounts, including a video on TikTok.
Trump’s campaign earlier this week claimed the cemetery employee who tried to make sure he and others complied with the ban on political activities was suffering from a mental health episode and was “despicable.”
The Army called out the Trump camp’s efforts to smear the cemetery employee in an unusually direct public statement.
“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” the spokesperson said.
“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 spokesperson said.
Two Defense officials told NBC News that military police arrived on the scene while the Trump motorcade was still on site and wrote up the incident but they did not get a formal statement from Trump’s team.
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said the Arlington employee initiated the physical altercation.
“False. Not even remotely true and this person is a liar,” Cheung told NBC News, referring to the employee’s claims of having been pushed.
“This individual was the one who initiated physical contact and verbal harassment that was unwarranted and unnecessary,” Cheung said.
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