Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, visited Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to attend a wreath-laying ceremony marking the third anniversary of the suicide bombing at Kabul airport in Afghanistan that killed 13 US service members.
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Two members of Donald Trump's campaign team got into a verbal and physical scuffle with an officer Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, where the former president attended a wreath-laying ceremony, NPR has learned.
A source with knowledge of the incident said cemetery officials tried to prevent Trump's staff from filming and taking photos in the section where recently killed American soldiers are buried. Arlington officials made it clear that only cemetery staff are authorized to take photos or film in the area, known as Section 60, the source said.
According to the source, when the cemetery official tried to stop Trump campaign staffers from entering Section 60, the campaign staffers verbally abused the officer and pushed him aside.
Trump attended an event to mark the third anniversary of a deadly attack on US troops in Afghanistan as American forces were withdrawing from the country; 13 American soldiers were killed in the attack. The Trump campaign has blamed President Biden and Vice President Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee, for the chaotic withdrawal.
In a statement to NPR, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung strongly rejected the notion of a physical altercation, and said: “We stand prepared to release the footage if such outrageous claims are made.
“The fact that a private photographer was allowed onto the premises and, for some reason, an unidentified individual, who was apparently suffering from a mental health issue, decided to physically restrain members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony is concerning,” Cheung said in the statement.
The Trump campaign declined to immediately make that footage available.
In a statement to NPR, Arlington National Cemetery said it can “confirm that an incident did occur there, and a report was filed.”
“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities at Army National Military Cemeteries, including the presence of photographers, content creators or any other individuals who attend for the purpose of campaigning for or in direct support of a political candidate,” the statement said. “Arlington National Cemetery has reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”