Army Defends Arlington Cemetery Staffer Who Confronted Trump’s Team

The US Army defended a staff member who confronted Donald Trump’s campaign staff during a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, saying she had been “abruptly pushed aside” and then was “unfairly attacked” after the incident.
The Army’s statement Thursday came three days after Trump’s team touched off a furor over his visit to the cemetery with some family members of the 13 US troops killed in a suicide bombing during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago. Trump said he was there at the families’ invitation, while his critics said he exploited the tragedy for the sake of his campaign.
The statement — which didn’t mention Trump by name — said participants who joined a visit to the cemetery’s Section 60, where recent war dead are buried, were made aware of laws that “clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.”
An employee “who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the Army said, adding that the staffer wouldn’t file charges and the matter was closed.
“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” the Army said.
That amounted to a rare public rebuke of a former president and commander-in-chief, whose campaign went on the attack after the altercation.
In a post to his Truth Social network Tuesday, Trump shared a statement from relatives of the fallen servicemembers who accompanied him, saying they had given their permission to take photographs and expressing gratitude for the former president “taking the time to honor our children.”
His staff went further. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that there was no physical altercation.
“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 said.
Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita said the official was “a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.”
Trump’s critics have seized on the incident, citing it as only the latest example of the former president disrespecting US service members. His defenders, such as vice presidential candidate JD Vance, have shot back, saying family members invited Trump’s campaign staff to take photographs.
“It is amazing to me that you have, 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,” Vance said.
The Afghanistan withdrawal has become a talking point for Trump’s campaign. The former president has repeatedly blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the servicemembers’ deaths, saying that weakness demonstrated in the hasty US evacuation prompted Russia’s attack on Ukraine and Hamas’s attack against Israel last year. 
With assistance from Stephanie Lai and Nancy Cook.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.