Army Says Team Trump ‘Abruptly Pushed’ Cemetery Employee
The United States Army on Thursday confirmed that a member of Donald Trump’s team “pushed” an Arlington National Cemetery employee during the former president’s visit to the grave sites of deceased service members earlier this week.
The Army noted in a statement that the cemetery conducts nearly 3,000 public ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier a year “without incident,” and that ahead of its visit to Section 60 of the cemetery, which is reserved for recently deceased service members, Trump’s team was “made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.”
“An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside” by a member of Trump’s staff, the statement continued. “Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption.”
The Army added that “the employee subsequently decided not to press charges,” and that the matter is now closed.
In a new, official statement, the Army is defending its staff member who found herself in a confrontation with Trump campaign employees at Arlington National Cemetery: pic.twitter.com/mUUk8vwv6Z
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) August 29, 2024
Military officials separately told The New York Times that the employee had declined to press charges for fear of retaliation and harassment by Trump’s supporters.
Following a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Monday, Trump accompanied the families of several service members who were killed in the 2021 Kabul airport attack during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan to their burial places in Section 60 of the cemetery.
NPR reported that when cemetery staff attempted to prevent Trump’s staff from entering the area in order to film and photograph the visit, they were verbally abused and physically pushed aside.
New reporting from The Washington Post indicates that before the visit, Arlington National Cemetery officials had told Trump’s team that he could visit the grave sites personally, but not as part of a campaign event.
The cemetery instructed that while the media could document Trump in his visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier — a more public space within the grounds — campaign staff could not accompany him to Section 60, and that the use of hats, signs, or banners containing campaign materials were not allowed.
On Thursday, The Daily Caller reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) personally intervened on the family’s behalf when the cemetery was reluctant to let Trump visit the graves.
After allegedly forcing their way into Section 60 to visit the grave of Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover with his family, the Trump campaign posted footage from the encounter on their social media accounts. The Washington Post noted that the Trump campaign’s “use of the footage marked a flagrant violation of the law against partisan actions at military cemeteries,” citing defense officials.
The rules in Arlington National Cemetery prohibiting campaign activity and the gratuitous gathering of film and video exist to protect the dignity and privacy of those interred at the cemetery and their families. In the aftermath of the incident, the relatives of Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano — a Green Beret whose burial plot is adjacent to Hoover’s — said they were not consulted by the campaign before Marckesano’s grave was featured in photos.
“We fully support Staff Sergeant Darin Hoover’s family and the other families in their quest for answers and accountability regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal and the tragedy at Abbey Gate,” Marckesano’s sister, Michele, said in a statement to The New York Times. “However, according to our conversation with Arlington National Cemetery, the Trump campaign staffers did not adhere to the rules that were set in place for this visit to Staff Sergeant Hoover’s gravesite in Section 60, which lays directly next to my brother’s grave.”
“We hope that those visiting this sacred site understand that these were real people who sacrificed for our freedom and that they are honored and respected accordingly,” she added.
Several veterans groups and veterans serving in Congress have also condemned the incident as a disrespectful campaign stunt by a man with a storied history of bashing members of the military.
As for the Trump campaign, the former president’s staff have gone on offense. In a statement to NPR, Trump Campaign Spokesperson Steven Cheung accused the cemetery staffer involved in the incident of “clearly suffering from a mental health episode” and deciding “to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.”
Cheung also claimed that the campaign was “prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.”
No such footage has been released.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Andrew Marckesano’s sister, Michele, as Abby.
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