Lone perpetrator incident in Trump campaign team at Arlington National Cemetery

CNN
—

An “incident” occurred at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday between former President Donald Trump’s campaign team and an individual, a cemetery spokesman told CNN.

Trump was visiting the gravesite for the latest US victims when, according to two Trump campaign staffers, a person violently prevented his team from accompanying him.

“We can confirm that there was an incident and a report was filed,” a cemetery spokesman said.

Trump visited the cemetery following a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate 13 U.S. service members killed at the Abbey Gate of Kabul airport during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Monday marked the third anniversary of the tragedy.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump appeared to suggest that the incident was due to his campaign's use of photos and shared a statement from the fallen soldiers' families expressing their approval.

“We had given our consent for President Trump's official videographer and photographer to attend the event to ensure that these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured and that we can preserve these memories forever,” the families said.

But according to a statement from Arlington National Cemetery seen by CNN, federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related activities at Army National Cemetery military cemeteries.

The cemetery said it has “supported and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all attendees,” which includes “photographers, content creators, and any other individuals present for specific reasons or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign.”

Trump's post followed a report by NPR of a “verbal and physical altercation” with an official. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung denied the claims of a physical altercation, but said an unnamed person decided to “physically block members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony.”

Cheung said Trump's team has a video to support this claim.

Trump's campaign manager Chris LaCivita shared a similar account with CNN. “President Trump was there at the invitation of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to honor their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” LaCivita said.

“For a despicable human being to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is disgraceful and undeserving of representing the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery,” LaCivita continued.