WASHINGTON − Members of former President Donald Trump's campaign staff had an altercation with a public affairs official at Arlington National Cemetery Monday during a wreath-laying ceremony.
Arlington National Cemetery − the country's biggest and most revered military burial ground − said in a statement that "an incident took place, and a report was filed." Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said a cemetery official "decided to physically block members of President Trump's team."
No charges have been filed, a police official told USA TODAY.
The cemetery's statement noted that federal law prohibits political campaign-related activities within Army National Cemeteries. Prohibited activities 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," the statement adds.
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The incident pitted Trump's campaign against administrators who maintain the dignity of some of the country's most hallowed ground, with his spokesman attacking the official in strikingly personal and derogatory language.
More:'Furious': Veterans slam Trump team's altercation at Arlington National Cemetery
Citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the incident, NPR first reported that Trump's campaign was filming in an area of the cemetery where only cemetery officials are authorized to take photos or video. The area − known as Section 60 − contains the graves of recent U.S. casualties.
"When the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump campaign staff from entering Section 60, campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the official aside, according to the source," NPR wrote.
A senior Defense Department official familiar with the incident at Arlington National Cemetery told USA TODAY it was a minor altercation.
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In a statement to USA TODAY, Cheung said there was "no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made."
He did not respond to a request for the footage.
"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," Cheung added.
More:Donald Trump lays wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery amid tussle over veteran support
The Trump campaign did immediately respond to a question about which staffers were involved in the altercation, which comes shortly after Corey Lewandowski – who was fired as Trump’s campaign manager in 2016 – joined his 2024 campaign staff. Lewandowski was charged with battery at one point during the 2016 campaign for grabbing a reporter, butthe charge was dropped.
Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery on the third anniversary of a 2021 attack that killed 13 U.S. service members in Afghanistan. The attack at Abbey Gate outside Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport occurred as the U.S. was withdrawing from the country after two decades of war.
Trump has pointed to the deaths to argue that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris mishandled the troop withdrawal.
The Trump campaign shared a statement on X from five family members of two soldiers who were killed at Abbey Gate. The statement thanks Trump for participating in the wreath laying ceremony, saying “the president and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity.”
The family members said they gave approval for Trump’s videographer and photographer to attend the event.
“I can speak for myself and our family, and we absolutely welcomed and appreciated having video and photography there with us during the time we spent with President Trump!” said Cheryl Juels, the aunt of slain soldier Nicole Gee, in a statement provided by the Trump campaign.
But the cemetery said the filming violated the law. "There's an actual federal law on the books saying it cannot be used political purposes," Fred Wellman, a 22-year Army combat veteran, said Wednesday. "The families put out a statement saying, 'Oh no, we authorized it.' They don't get that right. The families don't get the right to make decisions for the other people buried there."
The cemetery filed a complaint with the civilian police department at Joint Base-Meyer Henderson Hall, which has jurisdiction over the federal property.
An officer at the base who gave his name as Sgt. D. Jones told USA TODAY that he could not release details of the report, but said: “we didn’t do a police report, nobody was charged with this, this is just a report of incident.”
