The Trump campaign is blaming Arlington National Cemetery for the clashes that occurred during former President Trump's visit to the cemetery on Monday.
The incident occurred as a photographer was walking around the cemetery with Trump, raising concerns about a violation of regulations against politically-related activity at military cemeteries.
According to Arlington National Cemetery Media PolicyPursuant to the Hatch Act, filming or photography for “partisan, political or fundraising purposes” is not permitted.
The Hatch Act is a federal law that restricts the political activities of individuals employed by the executive branch or who work in programs funded by federal loans or grants.
The cemetery confirmed in a statement that an incident occurred and that a report had been filed, but did not provide any additional information.
“Federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related activity on Army National Military Cemeteries, including photographers, content creators or others visiting in direct support of the campaigns of partisan political candidates,” the cemetery said in a statement.
“Arlington National Cemetery ensured and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all attendees. We can confirm that an incident occurred and a report has been filed.”
Additionally, according to the Army Public Affairs Program, services and ceremonies at the Army National Military Cemetery do not involve partisan political activity. Handbook.
According to the handbook, military facilities cannot be used for political activities or campaign events by incumbents or “candidates seeking public office, their staff, or campaign representatives,” including rallies, town halls, conferences, speeches, press conferences and fundraisers.
The Trump incident First reported by NPROn Monday, he attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier marking the third anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
The outlet reported that cemetery staff tried to prevent Trump campaign staff from taking videos and photos in the area known as Section 60, where soldiers have recently been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. NPR's sources said that Trump campaign staff pushed the staff away when they tried to block campaign staff from entering the area.
The Trump campaign denies that any physical confrontation took place.
“The facts are that a private photographer was allowed on the grounds, but for some reason, an anonymous individual, who clearly suffered from a mental illness, decided to physically disrupt a member of President Trump's team in the middle of a very solemn ceremony,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Chang said in a statement.
After the wreath-laying ceremony, Trump walked to the 60th Ward with several family members of the 13 US soldiers killed at the Kabul airport. This part of the ceremony was closed to the press, but Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) posted a photo of Trump and several family members giving thumbs up.
Trump I posted a video Twitter posted the footage on TikTok on Monday with the caption “It should never have happened,” referring to the Kabul attack.
The incident alarmed some veterans, with VoteVets, a progressive group that advocates for veterans' rights, sharing screenshots of a TikTok post criticizing Trump for the incident and the video.
“And Donald Trump has used footage and photos taken at Arlington National Cemetery by his campaign for political purposes, violating the rules and laws governing this hallowed ground.” VoteVets said:
“This whole incident is a sickening insult to the hundreds of thousands of families who did not consent to their lost loved ones being involved in politics.”
