It’s not a controversy. It’s a crime.
If we don’t say so, we’re complicit.
National Public Radio reported Tuesday that two officials from the Donald Trump campaign assaulted a staff member at Arlington National Cemetery. The staffer tried stopping the former president from filming a campaign advertisment in Section 60. That section is reserved for the men and women who died fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s considered by many Americans to be sacred ground.
Trump was at Arlington Monday for an event marking the third anniversary of an attack on US military forces as they withdrew from Afghanistan. An emerging theme of his presidential campaign is blaming Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the 13 Marines who were killed that day by an ISIS suicide bomber outside Kabul Airport.
Later, at the behest of two Gold Star families, Trump attended a separate, private ceremony in Section 60 at the headstones of Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover and Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee. That’s when the “altercation” occurred. “When entering Section 60, campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the official aside,” according to NPR.
Assault is a crime, but the criming didn’t stop there.
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According to Arlington National Cemetery, it’s against federal law to make campaign advertisements in Section 60. In other words, it’s illegal to turn the honored war dead into disposable partisan props. Put another way, profaning their memory and sacrifice is punishable by law. In a statement to NPR, Arlington National Cemetery said:
“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.”
In the same statement, Arlington National Cemetery said it “reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
Compounding the offense is the Trump campaign’s reaction.
Spokesman Stephen Cheung accused the cemetery staffer who was trying to uphold federal law of physically blocking “members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony,” even saying the staffer was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.” Another campaign official called the staffer “a despicable individual.”
Compounding matters more is the treatment of the Gold Star families.
They chose to invite Trump to the memorial, but did they also choose to be complicit in a federal crime? Did the Trump campaign inform them of the law, as Arlington had informed the Trump campaign?
According to Arlington National Cemetery, it informed “all participants.” Were the families led to believe they were merely helping a candidate whom they clearly support? Or were they led to believe law-breaking was fine and dandy as long as they were with Trump?
It gets worse.
The Trump campaign appears to have induced these Gold Star families into issuing a press release in which they thanked Trump and said they authorized his videographer to take photos and video at the ceremony.
There are two problems: One is that permission wasn’t theirs to give. Two is that there’s another headstone in the campaign photo (above). Army Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano, a Green Beret and a Silver Star recipient who served six tours in Afghanistan, is buried next to Hoover. According to reports, his family wasn’t asked for permission.
So not only do these Gold Star families appear complicit in breaking federal law, they appear complicit in gravely offending another Gold Star family whose child loved his country as much as theirs did.
And by inducing these families into issuing their press release, he involved them indirectly in a cover-up of the original crime.
It gets even worse.
The Times reported that the cemetery staffer who was assaulted for trying, under law, to stop the Trump campaign has decided not to press charges. Why? According to military authorities, the Times said, it’s because “she feared Mr. Trump’s supporters pursuing retaliation.”
In other words, she feared political violence.
So, thanks to Trump’s corruption, these Gold Star families now appear complicit in: breaking federal law; gravely offending another Gold Star family; covering up the original crime; and the role of political violence in the wholesale degradation of individual liberty and the rule of law.
Their kids died fighting terrorism and terrorism won.
But they are not the only ones complicit.
So are we – if we don’t stand by what we say.
Arlington National Cemetery is operated by the United States Army. It is not a civilian bureaucracy run by a partisan appointee. There’s no “deep state” here. These are people with the widest feeling imaginable for fidelity and respect. If anything, they’re Trump supporters. Yet loyalty to him didn’t override loyalty to the fallen. The obligation to their memory compelled them to oppose Trump’s desecration of it.
If we believe what we say about Arlington National Cemetery, and I think most of us do, there should be no debate over Monday’s events. There should not be “both sides.” This should not be a story about what Trump said versus what Arlington National Cemetery said. The question shouldn’t be what happened. It should be: who do we believe?
Do we believe Trump, a draft-dodger who thinks volunteers for military service are “suckers” and “losers”; who thinks soldiers maimed in combat are embarrassing; who said prisoners of war are unworthy of reverence; who insulted recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor; and who, just yesterday, released an ad using the honored war dead as a disposable campaign prop to attack his opponent?
Or do we believe those trying to keep sacred ground sacred?
As I’m writing, the Post reported that the Army stands by the cemetery staffer who tried stopping the Trump campaign’s criming. The rest of us should stand by her, too. If we believe what we say about Arlington — and our values – there’s no question about what happened.
It’s not a controversy. It’s a crime.
We should say so.
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