There was an "incident" at Arlington National Cemetery between the Trump campaign and a person.
Arlington National Cemetery had a "incident" on Monday involving a person and the campaign of former president Donald Trump, a cemetery representative told CNN.
According to two Trump campaign workers, while Trump was visiting the gravesite of recent US casualties, someone forcibly prevented his team from joining him.
A representative at the cemetery stated, "We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed."
Trump was at the cemetery after laying a wreath in memory of the 13 US military personnel who perished at the Abbey Gate of the Kabul airport in 2021 during the tumultuous US exit from Afghanistan. It was Monday, the third anniversary of the catastrophe.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump shared a statement from the families of the deceased troops expressing their satisfaction, seemingly implying that the tragedy was caused by the campaign's use of photography.
"We approved the presence of President Trump's official photographer and videographer to ensure that these special moments of remembrance were respectfully recorded and that we can always treasure these memories," the families stated.
However, as per a statement acquired by CNN from Arlington National Cemetery, political campaigning and election-related activities are forbidden within Army National Military Cemeteries per federal law.
In order to prevent "photographers, content creators, or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign," the cemetery announced that it had "reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants."
Following an NPR story of a "verbal and physical altercation" with an official, Trump posted. Claims of a violent altercation were refuted by Trump spokeswoman Steven Cheung, who added that an unidentified person chose to “physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.”
According to Cheung, Trump's team has video to support the assertion.
Chris LaCivita, the campaign manager for Trump, gave CNN access to a comparable account. According to LaCivita, "President Trump attended at the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families' invitation to honor their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country."
"Physically preventing President Trump's crew from attending this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the sacred grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.," LaCivita went on.
