(WASHINGTON) — A photography-related “incident” occurred at Arlington National Cemetery Monday during a visit by former President Donald Trump, leading to a report being filed, the cemetery said in a statement to ABC News.
While the cemetery did not immediately provide specifics, NPR reported that a source had told the publication that two Trump campaign officials engaged in a verbal and physical altercation with a cemetery staff member during Trump’s visit, which came on the third anniversary of the deaths of 13 service members during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The alleged altercation took place after the Trump campaign officials were asked not to take photos and videos in Section 60, a section of the cemetery where recent U.S. veterans are buried, NPR reported.
When contacted by ABC News on Tuesday night, a representative for the Arlington National Cemetery released a statement that confirmed an “incident” but didn’t provide specifics.
“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign. Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed,” the statement read.
On Tuesday, Trump’s campaign posted a video capturing moments from the former president’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery, including more images of his visit to Section 60 where the alleged altercation occurred, and appears to be an example of how the campaign violated the cemetery’s rules.
The TikTok video, which is overlayed by guitar instrumentals, shows a montage of Trump participating in the wreath-laying ceremony, taking photos with Gold Star families and visiting Section 60.
In the video, Trump can be heard making a political point throughout the video — blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. The video is also captioned “Should have never happened,” again condemning his political opponent’s previous actions.
In the TikTok video, Trump and some of the family members are seen smiling and holding thumbs up as they posed for photos, with overlaid captions claiming Trump didn’t lose a single soldier in 18 months, but that a “disaster” ensued after the Biden-Harris administration took over.
Trump campaign’s communications director, Steven Cheung, posted on X what he said was proof of the team’s approval to have an official photographer and videographer outside the main press pool.
“Only former President Trump may have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool,” a screengrab of what appears to be an access guideline posted by Cheung reads. However, it should be noted that campaign officials — not professionals — were also taking photos and videos of the day’s events.
Cheung also claimed on Tuesday night after the news broke that, “There was no physical altercation as described, and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made” in a statement to ABC News.
Trump campaign staffers posted multiple pictures and videos of Trump visiting Arlington Cemetery, including from what appears to be Section 60, using the moment to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris’ absence. Trump was at the cemetery on the third anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate during the withdrawal from Afghanistan to pay tribute to the 13 U.S. Service members killed in the incident.
In one video posted by Trump campaign’s senior adviser Chris LaCivita, Trump can be seen laying flowers on the grave of Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, who died in the attack. LaCivita wrote in the post that Trump was speaking on the phone with Knauss’ family, who couldn’t make it to the ceremony on Monday.
Multiple other Trump campaign staffers posted photos from there, and some of the images were then shared by the Trump campaign on their official X account.
Prior to the event, the cemetery had been explicit in its rule that no Trump activity could be filmed during his visit to Section 60.
Monday’s press pool note read: “The family visit to Section 60 following the wreath laying is private and at their explicit request, there will be NO coverage at that location. Your POOL will wait inside the press van during this visit. POOL will then be taken to an unknown location for an OTR stop to round out the morning.”
On Tuesday, following NPR’s report, Cheung said in a statement that “there was no physical altercation as described.” He also claimed someone “decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team.”
In a statement to ABC News, LaCivita, a combat-wounded Marine, stressed that Trump “was there on the invitation of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to honor their loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” calling the individual who attempted to block Trump campaign officials “despicable.”
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