It turns out the fight between Donald Trump’s campaign staff and an Arlington National Cemetery official Monday was worse than we thought. The assaulted cemetery employee was a woman, and she didn’t want to press charges because she was afraid of retaliation from Trump supporters.
The New York Times reports that the woman filed an incident report with the military, but opted not to proceed further with law enforcement authorities at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia, which has jurisdiction over the cemetery. Trump and his campaign have been scrambling to explain away the physical altercation, posting a message of thanks from a military family, blaming the cemetery official, and even accusing her of having a “mental health episode.”
Taking photographs or video at a military cemetery for political purposes is prohibited under federal law, particularly in Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60, where recent military casualties are buried. After participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns on the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate attack in Afghanistan, Trump visited Section 60 with family members of Marines killed in the attack—and with cameras. The cemetery official tried to stop Trump’s campaign staffers from filming and taking photos, leading to them pushing the official and calling her names.
It turns out that the official’s concern was warranted, after Trump released photos and a video of his visit to Section 60, which was supposed to be private and closed to the press. The family of Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano, whose gravesite was shown in those photos, issued a statement saying that they did not give permission for the grave to be filmed or used by the Trump campaign.
“[A]ccording 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,” said Marckesano’s sister Michele in the statement.
“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.
One politician who was with Trump at the cemetery on Monday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, apologized on X (formerly Twitter) for using photos from the section in a campaign email.
“This was not a campaign event and was never intended to be used by the campaign,” Cox wrote. “It did not go through the proper channels and should not have been sent. My campaign will be sending out an apology.”
The Trump campaign, however, has not. Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance accused the media of blowing it out of proportion.
“Apparently somebody at Arlington Cemetery, some staff member had a little disagreement with somebody,” Vance said. “And they have turned — the media has turned this into a national news story.”
The more the Trump campaign refuses to acknowledge even the appearance of disrespect at a military cemetery, as well as the possible violation of federal law, the more likely the incident won’t go away, especially given Trump’s dismal reputation with military veterans.
