A wreath-laying event members of former President Donald Trump’s campaign planned reportedly did not go as smoothly as they had hoped.
NPR has reported two members of Trump’s campaign staff allegedly engaged in a verbal and physical altercation an Arlington National Cemetery official over whether who could photograph the Republican presidential nominee as he participated in a wreath-laying ceremony.
The cemetery official said members of Trump’s staff could not film or photographing in Section 60, a location where recent U.S. casualties are buried, a source said.
The cemetery cited federal law, which states political campaign or election-related activities cannot take place within Army national military cemeteries.
Officials at the cemetery also had emphasized only cemetery staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in that area.
However, according to the source, campaign personnel pushed a cemetery official aside when the official tried to prevent campaign staff from entering Section 60.
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign’s spokesman, denied there was any physical altercation in a statement to NPR.
“We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” he said.
“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 added.
The Trump campaign has declined to make said footage immediately available.
Officials with Arlington National Cemetery said they “can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.”
“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’s statement read. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
The event on Monday was to commenorate the third anniversary of an attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan as U.S. forces withdrew from the country. Thirteen U.S. service members were killed in the attack.
The Trump campaign has blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, for the problematic withdrawal.
