Arlington employee ‘abruptly pushed’ by Trump campaign staff declined to press charges over fears of ‘retaliation’
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The US Army has confirmed that a female Arlington National Cemetery official was “abruptly pushed aside” during an altercation with Donald Trump’s campaign staffers – but declined to press charges for fear of “retaliation” from the former president’s followers.
The official filed an incident report with the military after the alleged incident with Trump’s press secretary Steven Cheung and campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita, according to the The New York Times, which was prompted when she tried to stop them from taking photos and videos inside a section of the cemetery where recent US casualties are buried.
While she remains unidentified, fear of backlash from MAGA supporters prompted her to decide not to press charges, the Times reported.
A US Army spokesperson toldThe Independent on Thursday that participants at Monday’s wreath-laying ceremony were made aware of federal laws and regulations prohibiting political activities on cemetery grounds.
“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,” the statement said.
“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 incident was reported to the JBM-HH police department, but the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed.”
The statement continued: “This incident was unfortunate and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked.”
The incident, first reported by NPR, took place on Monday while Trump was attending a commemoration ceremony for the 13 service members killed in the 2021 terror attack at Abbey Gate outside Kabul Airport.
The cemetery official tried to prevent Cheung and LaCivita from taking photos and videos in the area, named Section 60, and the two campaign staffers verbally abused and pushed her to the side, a source told the outlet.
When reached for comment by The Independent, Cheung denied there had been any physical altercation and vowed to release a video to back it up.
He also suggested the official who tried to block the staffers from entering Section 60 was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.”
Trump also shared a statement from some family members of the 13 dead service members, claiming the Republican nomination and his team “conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect.”
This isn’t the first controversy involving Trump at the ceremony after he also sparked fury from veterans, military groups and soldiers’ families for posing with his thumbs up and smiling at a soldier’s grave.
Then, following reports of the alleged altercation involving his staffers, Trump posted a campaign video to TikTok featuring footage filmed at the cemetery, with many branding it “disgusting.”
Trump’s own former secretary of defense, Mark Esper, told CNN he believes the incident involving Trump’s campaign staff “should be investigated.”
“No person or party, either side should ever use Arlington National Cemetery – or any of our cemeteries or battlefields – for partisan political purposes, or break the so-called rules,” he said.
Family members of those buried in Section 60 have also denounced Trump and his team’s alleged actions.
Senior adviser at the progressive political action committee VoteVets, Major General Paul Eaton, whose father is buried there, slammed the campaign’s alleged actions at the cemetery as “nauseating.”
He told USA Today: “I truly cannot think of something more repugnant than starting a political fracas on land where Gold Star families mourn. Someone who would do that should never be Commander in Chief.”
