A U.S. veteran and former member of the Presidential Honor Guard defended former President Donald Trump's appearance at Arlington National Cemetery this week amid reports of an altercation between Arlington staff and the Trump campaign.
The veteran, Lucas O’Hara, said on social media that he worked at Arlington for three years during his time in the military, and he lauded Trump's composure at the event. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is facing criticism following reports that cemetery staff warned them not to take photographs at the Monday event.
"I have witnessed over 75 wreath laying ceremonies performed by politicians and conducted 524 funerals in this cemetery during the time I served in the Presidential Honor Guard for three years. What I got to witness yesterday was the most respectful and solemn ceremony I have seen," O'Hara wrote.
"There were no speeches, no angles, no weird photo ops just our elected officials and the 45th President respectfully and solemnly honoring the fallen and their families," he added.
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The Monday event honored the 13 U.S. service members who were killed while defending the Kabul airport during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Several parents of the service members released a statement saying they had approved a Trump campaign photographer to record the event.
A report from NPR says two Trump campaign staff members "verbally abused and pushed" a cemetery official who tried to stop them from filming and taking photos. A defense official also told The Associated Press that the campaign was warned by cemetery staff not to take photographs at the event.
"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," a cemetery official said in a statement. "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."
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung argued that the staffer who blocked the campaign photographers appeared to be having a "mental health episode." He also specified that the campaign was granted approval to bring a photographer.
"The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and, for whatever reason, an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony," he said.
Trump attended the event at the invitation of family members of the soldiers who were killed in the Kabul bombing.
"We are deeply grateful to the president for taking the time to honor our children and for standing alongside us in our grief, offering his unwavering support during such a difficult time," five of the family members wrote after the event. "His compassion and respect meant more than words can express."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
